James Shumway returns with another deeply intimate composition in “So Glad You’re Mine.” Hot off the acclaim of his award-winning piece “To the One I Love,” Shumway continues to carve out a space where classical romanticism meets modern emotional clarity. Known for writing from the heart rather than the ivory tower, he frames this new work as an ode to a life partner — a wordless love letter shaped over years, now distilled into melody. With a background steeped in classical training from age six and early composition from age nine, Shumway’s repertoire has grown into something that echoes Rachmaninoff’s sweeping sentimentality while maintaining a voice unmistakably his own.
“So Glad You’re Mine” unfolds with writhing, swelling strings that feel like a first rush of emotion, warm and immediate, as if the bow itself already knows the story. Then, almost like a breath being released, soft piano notes shimmer in, delicate and searching. The piano dances lightly across the soundscape, its phrasing tender and intimate, offering the vulnerability of a single human voice. The strings rise again, thawing over the melody with a full-bodied warmth, bringing in that sense of gratitude the piece was born from. It’s a dialogue more than an arrangement — the piano confides, the strings reassure.
As the track continues, the two voices overlap and trade emotional weight, with the piano bringing the delicacy and the vulnerability, and the strings carrying the overflowing passion of memory, commitment, and shared years. By the end, the piece feels like a quiet vow renewed to testify to choosing someone, and choosing them still.
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Review by: Naomi Joan