Birds of Prey (2014)
Instrumentation: Piccolo, two flutes, oboe, English horn, Eb clarinet, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, three horns, three trumpets, two trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, piano, strings.
Description: This is my largest ever work thus far, thirty-six minutes in length. My inspiration for this project contained such existing large works like Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe, and even the chorale of Holst’s Jupiter. It’s an orchestral tone poem in seven sections, each one representing a different bird. This is a very experimental work, with the music playing around with pentatonic scales, Dorian mode, and 7, 9, and 11 chords. Another feature throughout this piece is the constant changing of meter, with several odd time signatures There are constant changes in style, some sections slow and deliberate, some very fast and intense. Among other motifs, there is one introduced at the beginning of the piece that haunts the entire score, and returns triumphantly in the finale. One section of this piece was entered in the ILMEA Composition Contest; it won third place. The finale of the piece was performed by the Urbana Pops Orchestra on June 13, 2015.