World Premiere of YELLOW BREEZE (and unclenched shoulders)

2024

PRISMS Contemporary Music Festival, hosted by Arizona State University

Katzin Concert Hall, Tempe, AZ

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Program Note:

"Every Wednesday after school, my grandpa would drive me to flute lessons as a teenager. He would then ride along as I learned how to drive. It was a joy for him, as it was for me. He was a grounded person, and steady. He taught me how to release adrenaline before auditions by pushing with all my might against a wall and releasing several times in a row. 

 

During the summer of 2024, my grandfather, Ronald V Howes, transitioned to the other side. Sitting by his hospital and hospice beds, his deep green aura (despite the title of this piece) gleefully spun me around as it began to leave his physical body. My family rotated visiting schedules, but my grandma never left his side. She spent a week with him in hospice, where they made it to their 62nd wedding anniversary before he passed. 

 

I got to play my flute at his small town funeral in South Carolina to honor him - Amazing Grace. The wind picked up the moment I started playing. 

 

After flying back home to where I lived in Tempe, AZ, I began improvising with the meditative melody playing the wind chime with an old soul hanging in the backyard. I found out it had previously belonged to my housemate’s grandfather.

 

Having the previous spring’s experimental printmaking class from graduate school fresh on my mind, a visual of this score flashed through my mind. Over the span of several days on campus at Arizona State University in an empty studio, it came to life. Photos of my Grandma outside in her grassy yard served as my basis for each of the six parts. I layered several monotypes for each, retaining the “ghost” from each run through the press so that the marks would subtly repeat and layer onto the page. 

 

Love you always, Grandpa."

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