The story of my first commission…
It was the summer of 2024 when I attended the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival. I had been there as a composition fellow, premiering my first woodwind quintet, “The Sea Traveler”. Upon first day orientation, I ran into Selena, a horn player I knew from my undergraduate degree at LSU. Neither of us knew the other was attending the festival, and it was funny to think that we both came all the way up to New York and ran into someone we knew from Louisiana. A fun surprise, as we had not seen each other for a few years.
The festival went on, and it was a whirlwind of meeting fellow composers and world-class artists. On the last day, as we were all saying our goodbyes, Selena and I were talking about our future plans. She had told me about a concert series she wanted to program when getting home, featuring music about animals. The idea was to develop a program for children that would introduce them to the horn and new music.
After talking through ideas together, Selena commissioned me to write a piece for solo horn as part of this concert cycle. It seemed only all too fitting that the animal this piece is based on would be an alligator, for our Louisiana conception.
Selena had also just finished her DMA at LSU a year prior and had written her dissertation on Post-Tonal Music for the horn.
The ideas for this piece started flowing as I began to sketch. I hoped to create a solo piece outside tonality, aiming to craft an approachable work that could introduce post-tonal ideas to young horn players who may have only explored solo works in the tonal realm.
The idea of the prehistoric alligator also lent itself well to featuring post-tonal music. Music that would be otherworldly and prehistoric, and could captivate an audience.
This is the story of “Le Cocodrie”
artwork by Leah Espinoza
Le Cocodrie (Cajun French for The Alligator) was commissioned by Dr. Selena Boyda, Lecturer of Horn at Southeastern Louisiana University. Cajun French, also known as Louisiana French, is a dialect of French originating from South Louisiana. The work takes the listener into the world of an alligator living in a Louisiana swamp. The work opens with the ominous drifting of the alligator in the murky water. This is followed by the hunt for the alligator as it searches for food. The unevenness and constant change in rhythm evoke the thrusting through the water. When the hunt ends, we are back in a sudden, mysterious calm. The alligator sleeps on the shore in the sunlight, yet it is still a lurking danger if approached. The alligator is a beautiful, majestic animal that should only be admired from a distance.
The alligator is a historically special animal that lives throughout the swamplands of the Southern United States. These animals should be respected, and we should be responsible for keeping their ecosystems safe and protected.
Collaborations across the arts
One of my most cherished collaborators is my friend Leah Espinoza, a bassoonist and visual artist. We met in our undergraduate studies at LSU and have remained close friends and colleagues.
She is the bassoonist in the premiere recording of “Beneath the Withered Tree”. and the painter for the cover art of “Le Cocodrie”.
In addition to her paintings, much of the photography behind the cover art of my portfolio was also captured through Leah’s lens.
artwork by Leah Espinoza
“The Lake” an art song based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, performed by Hutton Stiller, mezzo, and Krystin Van Cleave, piano