Enter Spirit

Looking for a piece that you can adjust to fit YOUR concert band? Want something with a little bit of a deeper meaning than the typical surface subjects of most easier concert band pieces? This could be the piece for you! Duration: 4 minutes Enter Spirit is a piece inspired by the quote from the Avatar The Last Airbender series, "When all hope seems lost, look for the light in the darkness. " -Uncle Iroh It is a grade 2.5 Concert / Flex band piece. I denote the parts that are absolutely necessary to play the piece as well as what to substitute parts with if you don't have enough. Note: it will still work without the trombone part, but it will sound different. Also, please feel free to experiment and adjust the instrumentation to fit your band. ( I won't bat an eye if you decide to give a clarinet a trumpet part if you have way more of them for example) Enter Spirit also uses found sounds to create a soundscape. Suggestions are ringing objects ( mugs hit with a pencil, bells, etc) and a bowed vibraphone. Program Notes: I originally began composing this piece during the COVID-19 pandemic. While in isolation with not much else to do, as I had been laid off from my job and waiting to find a new one, I binge-watched the Avatar The Last Airbender Series and its sequel, The Legend of Korra. When this quote was uttered by Uncle Iroh to Korra when she was going through a depressive episode in the spirit realm (S.2 Ep .10), it struck a chord with me. I was thinking not only about how depressed I was becoming due to the isolation but also about how my students and their peers were dealing with the darkness and uncertainty. Thus the Idea for this piece was born. I asked my colleague and the then-director of the Twin Cities Brass Band, Adam Hille, if his students may want to play it. He teaches at a school, that is very similar to the school district I grew up in, in that it is very rural and the band is tiny ( but growing!). To make this piece accessible to as many bands in a similar situation that I know all too well, and spread hope in a time of darkness, I opted to write this as a hybrid flex band and full band piece. I also ask the students to find Bell-like objects of varying sizes, as that bell sound plays an important role in this piece summoning light and banishing darkness. I also aimed to give them a chance to be creative and find their own light, and sense of fun. Even though this was composed with a smaller group in mind, a larger group can certainly play it. Note: please contact the composer if you need a part transposed to fit an instrument that is not currently included with the piece.