Resistance

Year of Composition: 2016

Instrumentation: fl, cl/bcl, tpt, hn, perc, str (2.1.1.1)

Duration: 6’30”

Premiere: December 17, 2016 at Lutkin Hall, Evanston, IL

Resistance is defined as a “refusal to accept or comply.” At the heart of this piece is a question: what can we, as individuals, do to affect political change? The ensemble acts as a microcosm of a nation, state, or other system in which each individual has his or her own opinions regarding the relationship between government and personal life. In Resistance, each individual plays some music together with the conductor and some material independently of the conductor. At times, this relationship is more laissez-faire, as individuals decide when and where they want to comply with the decisions of their leadership. At other points, it is forced, as individual lines are subsumed into a texture dictated by the conductor. Ultimately, this piece is a call for critical thinking and political skepticism.