The Wolves of Yellowstone

Program Note for "The Wolves of Yellowstone" In 1995 through 1997, 41 wild wolves from Canada and northwest Montana were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after nearly a century of being driven out of the territory. The Yellowstone Wolf Restoration Project has been an overwhelming success. Glimpses of a new Yellowstone are taking shape. Gone for most of the 20th century, wolves and other carnivores have made a comeback, helping the park's ecological system to balance the years of neglect and overpopulation of several species in the park, most notably the elk herds. January 12, 2020, marked the 25th anniversary since wolves returned to Yellowstone. "The Wolves of Yellowstone" is a short tone poem intended to trace the reintroduction of the wolves back into Yellowstone. Although the actual time period took several months, this piece depicts a single day of a sunrise, the sweeping visa of the park, the first tentative steps of the wolves outside the enclosure they were kept in, a frolicking playful period that turns quickly into a hunt, chase and kill of an elk, and finally a sunset. The dissonance heard at the beginning of the piece being replace by the mostly tonal serene ending is a symbolic representation of the balance being restored within the park's ecological system. The piano part is not optional; it is integral to the orchestration. The use accompanying video is highly recommended.