Mostly Miniatures Festival

Written: 2023
Duration: ca. 5:00
Instrumentation: Horn Quartet

Program Notes

Mostly Miniatures Festival is an odd work, even for me. It is both incredibly self-indulgent and also built to thank and celebrate friends. In the summer of 2023, I attended the Mostly Modern Festival in upstate New York. There, I had the pleasure of attending as both a composer and performer, sitting in the Horn section of the Mostly Modern Orchestra. Every member of that section was a gem of a human being - beautiful and multifaceted. We grew into one of the closest sections at the festival over those three weeks, going on walks, playing cards and board games, eating dinner together, seeing a movie, making a late night fast food run, and painting.When we needed it, we’d gather in one of the odd little dorm longues, listen to music, talk, and use the art supplies Alex had driven up with them to paint. Out of those evenings, I ended up producing a series of three small paintings: Abstracts in Blue, Two Leaves, & Bad Day in Warm Tones. Somewhere along the way, I got the idea to take my own visual art and reinterpret it as music. I even began the first sketch (ironically of the last movement) on the plane ride home. So this piece is in many ways, a thank you to that Horn section. Alex, Jordan, Madeline (yes I went with Alphabetical order, the coward’s way out), thank you so much. Thank you for playing with me and for your friendship.