Six Celestial Miniatures

This woodwind quintet offers short vignettes on places through our solar system that I have found interesting & exciting! The music features some technical challenges that can show off the performers' chops while maintaining an approachable, light, & humorous tone throughout that will captivate the audience. Detailed program notes: Six Celestial Miniatures was written in 2013 for my composition recital at the end of my fifth year at Lehigh University. I wished to pay homage to my love of astronomy by writing a series of miniatures based on select elements in our solar system that have always fascinated me. I. Ascent up Olympus Mons depicts a slow climb up the eponymous volcano, located on Mars, notable for being the largest volcano in our solar system. II. Triton's Geyser's refers to the many geysers of Neptune's moon Triton, which spew out jets of frigid nitrogen. III. Picnic on Io captures the image of what a picnic on Jupiter's intensely volcanic moon would be like... fiery, dangerous, fleeting, and highly unsuccessful. IV. Drifting towards Saturn is about the cold voyage through the emptiness of space, until the wonder of seeing the tremendous beauty of Saturn overwhelms the observer. V. Asteroids! imagines what flying through an asteroid field might be like, dodging particles of various sizes. VI. Pluto's Loneliness recaps the different images created in the piece through the sad eyes of Pluto, having been demoted from his status as a planet, and depicts his frustration with the world.