Back in December, violist Wendy Richman came to DC to premiere Highway Music at the Strathmore Mansion. This piece, and the event (commissioned and presented by Strathmore, with additional support from the Randy Hostetler Livingroom Music Fund) were a long time in the making: I had wanted to write something for Wendy for a few years when Strathmore approached me back in 2009. The evening ended up featuring a few other premieres as well, by none other than Ken Ueno, David Smooke, Everette Minchew, and Jose-Luis Hurtado. (Just to keep it interesting, Wendy also tacked on some music by Kaija Saariaho and Giacinto Scelsi.) In the tradition of Scelsi’s Manto, each of the newly composed pieces featured Wendy’s voice in some way.

Below you’ll see 3 video excerpts from my piece. Highway Music was inspired by the experience of traveling long distances to be with loved ones. For me, any road trip is accompanied by music, whether surfing through radio stations or dialing up a mix on an iPod. Rather than a depiction of a specific journey, the piece is an exploration of the various states of mind on a several hour road-trip. As a kind of mixtape to accompany a journey, I hope it helps a listener explore and contemplate the spaces between departing and arriving. More info on the piece here.

Highway Music, Part 1 of 3:

Highway Music, Part 2 of 3:

Highway Music, Part 3 of 3: