in January of 2017, I returned to my high school orchestra room with my teacher, Ms. Kimberly Kondenar, to meet the current students and begin work on a new piece for them to perform. I spent the 45 minute period chatting with students, asking about their favorite music, books, and movies, to get a sense of the stories that resonated with them. Surprisingly, many of their answers were the same as mine at that age (and, admittedly, today): The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and other epic fantasies, with a splash of post-apocalyptic dystopia circa The Hunger Games and Fallout. I asked about their preferences for the music they played in orchestra - fast-paced, beats, key signature changes, accidentals, and retro-sounding were all on their list. Finally, I asked for a list of words and promised to include every one in the narrative of the piece! After the initial meeting with the orchestra, I approached the piece in a similar way to how I wrote Rever: I wrote a simple story centered around a post-apocalyptic landscape, which would have a recurring theme to tie the piece together in a rondo form. I grouped the words into four lists and assigned one list to the setting and the remaining three to a character, then wrote up a brief document to use as a guide while writing the piece:
I worked in sections, writing the overworld theme and each character theme, before assembling everything in a new Logic session and adding in transitions. I found it to be a very efficient way to work. The piece was completed, along with score/parts, by early March. In order to allow for the best possible performance, Ms. Kondenar held off on performing the piece until May 2018 so that the orchestra would have plenty of time to get familiar with it.
On May 17th, the piece (dubbed "Mohon" by the students) was performed alongside two student works. The students did a beautiful job and I'm very much looking forward to hearing the recording again! This was definitely a fun and challenging experience. I hope to have another opportunity like it soon!