“Of Children, Mind and Earth” is a musical multi-media program for oboe and electronics. This collection of works features music pieces that have a social justice message. This ties them together.
The two works related to “Children” are those that describe a mother’s grief upon losing children due to the cruelty of others. These are “Niobe” by Thea Musgrave and “Rachel Weeping for Her Children” by Robert Mueller. The second work also has an accompanying video.
The work related to “Mind” is my own work, “The Voices,” for pre-recorded track (electronic sounds and voices of psychotic breaks) and acoustic oboe. This is a reflection of the concern of mental illness.
There are two works related to “Earth.” The first, “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Asha Srinivasan, is a work for oboe, electronics and natural sounds, based on the writing of plant ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, who is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The second “Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa”, by Phiillip Brimsbley, features the acoustic oboe with a recording with nature sounds including recorded the sounds of coyotes, crickets, rocks, thunder, rushing waters, and frogs.
It is my hope that this performance will generate thought, interest, and awareness on these topics. In addition, I will also add my own voice, in a meaningful way, with my work “The Voices,” to the group of composers writing for oboe and electronics, and to show that our voices can have an impact on social justice.
