Works In Progress 2018

Works In Progress

I am putting the finishing touches on my new symphonic work, "Forever Wild." It will premiere with the Albany Symphony and feature The Finger Lakes Guitar Quartet!

“Forever Wild” is the motto that saved 6 million acres of precious land and life. The Adirondacks, depleted by iron mines and over logging, slowly but surely was resurrected into the vast forest we know today. It is the source of the mighty Hudson River and a source of pride for NY State.

In 1868, land surveyor Verplanck Colvin, seeing the destruction of the forest, convinced people that if they don’t act, it will be too late. His vision lead to the creation of the NY State Forest Preserve and Adirondack Park. “Forever Wild” is a rallying cry for us embrace Colvin’s vision anew in the face of Climate Change. We must rise up, like the grand tress that grace our northern landscape, and act!

As soon as the Albany Symphony asked me to compose a piece for them, I knew the Finger Lakes Guitar Quartet must be included. They are incredible musicians, and like the Adirondacks, a great asset to NY state.

My symphonic work for guitar quartet and orchestra depicts humankind’s ability to destroy and to rebuild. I chose the guitar because of its balance between two opposing symbols of human progress and conservation—metal and wood. The orchestra highlights these two elements. The piece opens with a cacophony of demolition, followed by the systemic eradication of everything that surrounds it. There is moment in the piece, when all is depleted, that a single voice looks back at what is lost. Like a seed, that voice grows and grows until what has been lost is now restored. And only after we witness such restoration, can the true vision of conservation be planted in our minds to carry with us a guaranteed future for the forest and earth.

As I write this, I just finalized the orchestrations for "The Ghosts of Gatsby"