Havens

"Home is the starting place of love, hope and dreams." Home is where the heart is. Everyone has a haven, whether they know it or not; my haven is a place where I feel most safe -- a place I grew from. When writing this piece, I chose to symbolize a lost human soul and its need to find home. Havens is comprised of three parts: the Departure, the Journey, and the Homecoming. The piece begins with the departure: the leaving of home and its memories. A warm and intimate setting is orchestrated using a small amount of the ensemble. As we depart for the journey of Havens, the piece moves into a more serious manner purposely differing from the original warm tone. Throughout the Journey, a new question is raised: what do we do when we cannot control our surroundings? How do we not let a new environment consume who we are? The journey of life and the many paths it takes us on is depicted as the piece accelerates in tempo and dissonant chaos until the third theme, return, enters. Finally, we reach a climax of darkness and trouble that ultimately leads to the Homecoming. As the piece slowly turns from darkness to light, Havens returns home. Although we have returned to friends, family, and dreams, home is different now -- we are different now. Nonetheless, Havens is happy to return home, a place filled with color and warmth represented by antiphonal trumpets and expanded percussion. Going through the journey of life, we all experience a longing to be home. However, if we use the memories we collect and the love we gain from our people, we are never alone -- we are never that far away from our haven. This is Havens.