The Middle of Nowhere: Sketches After Grady, Alabama (2023) (10 min.)
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet in B♭, bassoon, 2 trumpets in B♭, 2 trombones, bass trombone, timpani, percussion (bass drum, tam-tam), strings
Premiered November 19, 2023 with the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony
John Thomas, conductor
Program Note
Growing up, every summer my mom and I visited my great-grandmother in Grady, Alabama, which is a small town about thirty miles south of Montgomery. Inspired by my grandfather’s thousand-page long book on our family history, the piece musically explores the scenery, family stories, and my memories of the town that meant so much to my family for four generations. After the death of my great-grandmother who lived to 102, we sold her property and the remainder of my relatives moved out of Grady.
Prelude
The Stories
The Memories
Postlude
World premiere recording