Nicole ChamberlainWhen you find a collaborator that shares your priorities, you hold on to them.
When it turns out they share your sense of humor and general attitudes toward life, you work with them again and again. Nicole is that person for me. |
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Death Whistle (2018)
The piccolo is notorious in the orchestra for its incredibly high pitches and gets a bad rap for intonation issues. As Niciole writes in her program notes, "It takes a brave soul to consider playing the piccolo and a person of questionable character to love it."
I was that person.
This piece evolved from a desire to collaborate with composer and long-time friend Nicole Chamberlain. As any orchestral piccoloist will tell you, setting up for rehearsal can involve certain amount of complaining from immediate neighbors and negotiating comfort with distance, sound shields, and earplugs. As Nicole and I were working out the details of a commission for solo piccolo, I shared photos of a three-sided plexiglass wall, meant to save the second violins from the finale of Verdi’s Requiem and a particularly high passage in one of Howard Hanson’s symphonies. If I complained about specific excerpts from our season Nicole took note - literally - and Death Whistle was born.
Ear Knife spotlights the cutting, razor sharp character of high notes - there are references to that Verdi rehearsal, Ballistophobia, or the fear of being shot, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the joke that starts, “How do you tune two piccolos?” The final movement, #PiccoloOhMyGod started as a hashtag joke between composer and commissioner, and quotes a number of “fun” moments from piccolo literature.
I was that person.
This piece evolved from a desire to collaborate with composer and long-time friend Nicole Chamberlain. As any orchestral piccoloist will tell you, setting up for rehearsal can involve certain amount of complaining from immediate neighbors and negotiating comfort with distance, sound shields, and earplugs. As Nicole and I were working out the details of a commission for solo piccolo, I shared photos of a three-sided plexiglass wall, meant to save the second violins from the finale of Verdi’s Requiem and a particularly high passage in one of Howard Hanson’s symphonies. If I complained about specific excerpts from our season Nicole took note - literally - and Death Whistle was born.
Ear Knife spotlights the cutting, razor sharp character of high notes - there are references to that Verdi rehearsal, Ballistophobia, or the fear of being shot, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the joke that starts, “How do you tune two piccolos?” The final movement, #PiccoloOhMyGod started as a hashtag joke between composer and commissioner, and quotes a number of “fun” moments from piccolo literature.
Spooklight (2020)
Commissioned in 2019-20, Spooklight was intended as a gift to my students at Missouri Southern, with hopes they could premiere it at the National Flute Association Convention in Dallas later that year. Although we began rehearsals, the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold.
Spooklight was recorded in 2021, but not performed live until the 2022 NFA Convention in Chicago, IL, with the original personnel of the Aviary Quartet.
An urban legend around Joplin, Missouri, the “spooklight” is described as an orb of light, appearing, hovering, and moving in the dark distance. There are numerous local legends to explain this eerie phenomenon; I particularly love the Native American story of deceased lovers, in search of one another for eternity. Others insist it is the spirit of a dead miner, traveling the path he would have followed in life. A scientific investigation in 2014 attempted to debunk any supernatural explanations, concluding the lights were head and tail lights from an interstate nine miles away.
This quintet gives its performers a unique opportunity to lean into the unsettled, ethereal mood of a dark, quiet highway and the sudden jolts of adrenaline that follow the unexpected. As with all of Chamberlain’s works, the piece creates a complete sound world - with cheeky musical references from the composer.
Spooklight was recorded in 2021, but not performed live until the 2022 NFA Convention in Chicago, IL, with the original personnel of the Aviary Quartet.
An urban legend around Joplin, Missouri, the “spooklight” is described as an orb of light, appearing, hovering, and moving in the dark distance. There are numerous local legends to explain this eerie phenomenon; I particularly love the Native American story of deceased lovers, in search of one another for eternity. Others insist it is the spirit of a dead miner, traveling the path he would have followed in life. A scientific investigation in 2014 attempted to debunk any supernatural explanations, concluding the lights were head and tail lights from an interstate nine miles away.
This quintet gives its performers a unique opportunity to lean into the unsettled, ethereal mood of a dark, quiet highway and the sudden jolts of adrenaline that follow the unexpected. As with all of Chamberlain’s works, the piece creates a complete sound world - with cheeky musical references from the composer.
Screamocity (2020)
Screamocity was commissioned in collaboration with former MSSU colleague and trumpeter Fred Green. We hit it off immediately, and joked about forming a duo called Screamocity.
It eventually became a reality, and shortly after followed this commission. Job changes during the COVID-19 pandemic
meant that we no longer lived or worked in the same places, and the premiere is still pending. We're not worried - the first rule of screamocity is: don't take anything too seriously. It'll be an experience, and we plan to have fun.
It eventually became a reality, and shortly after followed this commission. Job changes during the COVID-19 pandemic
meant that we no longer lived or worked in the same places, and the premiere is still pending. We're not worried - the first rule of screamocity is: don't take anything too seriously. It'll be an experience, and we plan to have fun.