PROGRAM NOTES

I am fortunate to have lived in so many places in my life. I lived in several of the largest cities in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I always had difficulty writing in cities, and Montana is where I came to find solace and rest amidst my busy life. As time has passed, I realize the more I travel away from Montana, the further I am from the place that has inspired so many of my compositions. The majority of my music has either been written in Montana or about Montana. It is also where I met David Maslanka, who had such a profound influence on my life both musically and personally.

This work is named after Lake Como, a lake in the middle of the mountains in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. The Como peaks are recognizable from a distance as the “three sisters,” three adjacent mountain peaks forming a sort of crown. The canons in the piece were inspired by the overwhelming sound of birds in the spring of 2020.

Montana is where I come to commune with the gods of music. They are in the birds of the air, the open sky, the snow-covered mountains, and the amazing sunsets over the canyons. It was the place I came to get away, and now it goes by another name: home.

GRADE 5-6

Instrumentation: Picc., 2 Fl., 2 Ob., 3 Cl., Bs. Cl., Cb. Cl. (Opt. Ca. Cl.), Bsn., Cbsn. (Opt.), Sop. Sx., 2 Alt. Sx., Ten. Sx., Bar. Sx., 3 Tpt., 4 Hn., 2 Tbn., Bs. Tbn., Euph., Tba., Dbl. Bs., Timp., 5+ Perc.