Como Canons

I am fortunate to have lived in so many places in my life. I lived in several of the largest cities in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I always had difficulty writing in cities, and Montana is where I came to find solace and rest amidst my busy life. As time has passed, I realize the more I travel away from Montana, the further I am from the place that has inspired so many of my compositions. The majority of my music has either been written in Montana or about Montana. It is also where I met David Maslanka, who had such a profound influence on my life both musically and personally. This work is named after Lake Como, a lake in the middle of the mountains in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. The Como peaks are recognizable from a distance as the "three sisters," three adjacent mountain peaks forming a sort of crown. The canons in the piece were inspired by the overwhelming sound of birds in the spring of 2020. Montana is where I come to commune with the gods of music. They are in the birds of the air, the open sky, the snow-covered mountains, and the amazing sunsets over the canyons. It was the place I came to get away, and now it goes by another name: home.