F R O M S E A T O S H I N I N G S E A
From Sea to Shining Sea; a Musical Journey through America’s National Parks, a series of works depicting scenes from national parks across the United States in which each can be performed as a standalone symphonic poem, can be combined with select others for a small suite, or the entire collection can be played as a large symphonic suite (a little bit like The Planets by Gustav Holst, except with national parks instead of planets). Once fully complete, it will consist of approximately 10 such works.
Each piece involves electronics, which consists of unique aspects of the parks’ soundscapes. These are triggered electronically by a performer, which after acquiring the right software, is essentially a very easy piano part (no click track). Each piece also has an optional video component to accompany the music, however it need not be employed as the music is able to stand on its own.
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With a few exceptions, each piece has essentially the same number of personnel involved:
2222 - 4231 - timp + 3 perc - hp, kbd (cel and/or pno), elec - strings
That being said, woodwinds do employ the use of auxiliary instruments, which can include (but not always) piccolo, alto flute, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, English horn, bass oboe or heckelphone (optional), and contrabassoon.
A version of each for triple winds (3333 - 4331...) is available and may be preferable for concerts in which another piece on the program utilizes triple winds, as this version eliminates much of the doubling (which makes it logistically and financially easier).
In the works are a version with narrator which would be appropriate for children's/educational concerts, as well as a version for concert band.
Sky-Tinted Water
Park: Voyageurs National Park
Length: ~12 minutes
Tempo: slow - moderate - fast - slow - moderate
Instrumentation considerations: Optional Theremin
Score Link
Sky-Tinted Water: Place Where the Water is so Still it Reflects the Sky is the result of my residency at Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. The park is in an area colloquially known as "the boundary waters," and is a semi-aquatic terrain which is about 50/50 land and water. Voyageurs is a sort of "Venice of the National Park System," in that the only way to really explore ti is by boat.
The piece is a musical tour which depicts various scenes from the park: floating through mysterious marshes, navigating choppy waves of big waters, the mirror-like stillness of the lakes at sunset, and the other-worldly glow of the aurora borealis at night. The electronics in this piece are recordings of the sounds of the northland ecosystems: the rowing of paddles; the iconic call of Minnesota's state bird, the common loon; the howling of wolves, and the buzzing of mosquitoes. The title of the piece refers to a common translation of the name "Minnesota." The translation is somewhat of a simplifica- tion however, and a more accurate translation would be "place where the water is so still it reflects the sky." Nowhere is this idea captured better than in the boundary waters, whose beauty is captured in the constantly changing interplay between the water and the sky.
Sky-Tinted Water was commissioned by the Bemidji Symphony, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony, Voyageurs National Park, and the Voyageurs Conservancy.
The Sacrifice of Prometheus
Park: Great Basin National Park
Length: ~13 minutes
Tempo: slow - moderate - slow
Instrumentation considerations: solo Bass Oboe (or Heckelphone or Bassoon), celesta
Score Link
The Sacrifice of Prometheus: A Midnight Wander Among Earth's Oldest Trees was the result of my residency at Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. The park is most known for being the home of the world's oldest known, non-clonal, living tree, a 5,000 year old ancient bristlecone pine named Prometheus, (which was inadvertently cut down in the 1960s), and also as having some of the darkest night skies in the country. The piece tells astory of a visitor awoken in the middle of the night who follows 'a voice in the wind' to a grove of the ancient trees under a magnificent night sky. The voice leads them to the stump, and reveals itself as the spirit of Prometheus. It asks "What have you done to me?" whereupon an emotional reflection on conservation and our role on the planet ensues. The piece is scored for solo bass oboe or bassoon (representing the spirit of Prometheus), orchestra, and electronics. The electronics consist of musical biodata of the bristlecones' biological processes as given to me by a device that measures plants' changes in electrical conductivity. While this technology has been around for years, to my knowledge this is the first piece that uses this method of deriving music from plants to be used with an orchestra.
The Sacrifice of Prometheus was commissioned by the Reno Philharmonic, Great Basin National Park, and the Great Basin National Park Foundation.
Lassen Awakes
Park: Lassen Volcanic National Park
Length: ~11 minutes
Tempo: moderately slow - fast - slow
Instrumentation considerations: none
Score Link
Lassen Awakes: At the Crossroads of Life, Destruction, and Renewal was the result of my residency at Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California, and is about the cycle of life, destruction, and renewal. The park is home to over 30 volcanoes and is very hydrothermally active (like a mini-Yellowstone), with bubbling mudpots and hissing fumaroles. I found this tangible manifestation of unfathomably powerful, and usually unseen tectonic forces quite unnerving, and its juxtaposition with the surrounding beautiful nature jarring. The piece starts out with an introspective stroll through the forest, followed by an unsettling encounter with the hydrothermals, before descending into an apocalyptic fever dream of volcanic calamity, with the final section being inspired by hiking through areas burned by the Dixie fire. Traversing these burn scars was initially a heart-breaking experience, but signs of regrowth reminded me that the other side of the coin of the inevitability of destruction is the inevitability of renewal. Everything and everyone is somewhere in the circle of life, destruction, and renewal.
Lassen Awakes was commission by the North State Symphony and Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Where Water Begins
Park: Glacier Bay National Park
Length: ~10-12 minutes
Instrumentation considerations: none
Where Water Begins: The Journey of Water in Glacier Bay will be the result of my time in southeast Alaska, specifically in the areas around Juneau and Glacier Bay National Park. Being among of the wettest parts of the United States, southeast Alaska is shaped by water in many forms, from ethereal fog to ancient ice. Where Water Begins follows the path of water in reverse, starting at the expansive ocean, and then up through turbulent rivers and waterfalls, to lakes fed by calving glaciers, and finally up to the quiet, snow-covered summits of towering mountains, from which spectacular views of Alaskan wilderness inspire awe to all who behold.
The electronics in this piece feature the sounds of water in its various forms: the giant blocks of snow and ice crashing into still waters, the rush of meltwater floods, the thundering of waterfalls, the whisper of gentle streams, and the crunch of footprints in the snow. Alaska holds the last truly vast and untouched wildernesses of the United States and as such will serve as the final movement and climax of the entire suite. The exhilaration and and sense of triumph achieved when at the summit of a mountain makes for a perfect finale celebrating the amazing nature of the United States!
Where Water Begins is being commissioned by the Juneau Symphony. The premiere of this piece is expected in June 2027
Sylvan Desert
Park: Joshua Tree National Park
Length: ~10-12 minutes
Tempo: fast - slow - fast
Instrumentation considerations: none
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Sylvan Desert will be the result of my residency at Joshua Tree in southern California. The park lies at the border of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and is named after one of its most charismatic plant species, the Joshua Trees, whose spike-clad arms extend bizarrely in every direction, as if frozen while flailing. The park is also known for an area called "The Wonderland of Rocks," in which a labyrinth of unusual rock formations provide a paradise for rock climbers.
Like Sky-Tinted Water, this piece is a musical tour of experiences in the park. It opens with the experience of driving through the park's wide, flat valleys bound by mountains on either end, where one is simultaneously going very fast but also doesn't appear to be moving at all. Next we enter the massive boulders of the Wonderland of Rocks, and a lush desert oasis provides respite from the heat. Next is the fantastic Joshua tree forest, forests being a relative rarity in deserts. And finally, the sweeping desert panoramas from one of the park's many mountains. The electronics of this piece consist of recorded sounds from the park, including the hair-raising rattle of rattlesnake's tails; the grinding of large rocks against each other; and the trickling water, birdsong, and buzzing of verdant oases.
The premiere of this piece is expected in the 2027-2028 season.