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Forging Canyons
PREMIERE July 11, 2021, ClarinetFest 2021 Virtual Concert ENSEMBLE 2 clarinets and piano DURATION 12' |
While watching the increased media coverage of social injustice over the past several years, Joanna Birchfield, founding member of Fourth Street Trio, was moved to find a way to get involved through musical advocacy. Joanna worked for many years as a social worker, advocating for the underprivileged, marginalized and unseen people in her communities. Familiar with the struggle, as she has seen it in her clients and patients over the last 20 years, she commissioned composer Elyse Kahler to write a piece that reflects societal transformation from a place of ignorance to realization then advocacy.
With the idea for a world premiere at the ClarinetFest 2021 Conference, “Flowers Without Borders”, a project has emerged that portrays the idea of a flower growing from seed to bloom to garden as a metaphor for one’s transformation from a place of ignorance to realization to advocacy. The piece utilizes Bb and A clarinets as well as piano to demonstrate the idea of presumably being together, but then having to make adjustments to find common ground. It employs modal elements to emphasize the struggle, and an aleatoric style to demonstrate the time it takes to gain understanding and make adjustments. Through all of this, a theme of water unifies the piece. Water nourishes our metaphorical garden with compassion and empathy, while still being persistent in its path, “Forging Canyons”. One flower, one person advocating for the many needs of humanity and the planet is wonderful, but so many more people benefit from an entire garden of flowers, of more people joining the movement for a better world. Our hope for this project is to demonstrate blossoming cultural awareness and advocacy for diverse representation in the form of an artistic experience.
With the idea for a world premiere at the ClarinetFest 2021 Conference, “Flowers Without Borders”, a project has emerged that portrays the idea of a flower growing from seed to bloom to garden as a metaphor for one’s transformation from a place of ignorance to realization to advocacy. The piece utilizes Bb and A clarinets as well as piano to demonstrate the idea of presumably being together, but then having to make adjustments to find common ground. It employs modal elements to emphasize the struggle, and an aleatoric style to demonstrate the time it takes to gain understanding and make adjustments. Through all of this, a theme of water unifies the piece. Water nourishes our metaphorical garden with compassion and empathy, while still being persistent in its path, “Forging Canyons”. One flower, one person advocating for the many needs of humanity and the planet is wonderful, but so many more people benefit from an entire garden of flowers, of more people joining the movement for a better world. Our hope for this project is to demonstrate blossoming cultural awareness and advocacy for diverse representation in the form of an artistic experience.