Night Lights

Edmund Bascon is the winner of University of the Pacific's 2025-2026 Composition Competition with his piece, 'Night Lights'. It will be premiered by the University Wind Bands in April. Night Lights (2026) is a piece about enduring fear, anxiety, and loneliness. The first section lays out a simple, ‘starry-eyed’ motive in the Glockenspiel full of wonder and naivety. However, something sinister brewing under the shimmer launches into a frantic second section. Despite the constant hammering of an eighth note pulse, the stabs of dissonance remain unpredictable and the stress never relents. Every burst of sound is a bomb lighting up the night sky, with the stars now outcompeted. The music eventually scurries to safety and finds a strained quiet, but quiet nonetheless. In this third section, soloists cry out into the darkness, hoping to find someone else to hold on to. They are acknowledged either by doom and despair, or nothing at all. And at last, a glimmer of hope. Rays of light drive away the darkness with the return of the simple, shimmering theme. Back under the light of the stars, the music reaches a sense of safety at last, and can retreat gently into a peaceful sleep. This piece is perfect to highlight virtuosic players in your ensemble, including prominent solos for clarinet, oboe, vibraphone, and timpani.