“Going to The Sun: Snapshots From Glacier National Park”, by Jenni Brandon, performed by Barry (Barrick) Stees on Friday, April 26th, 7:30pm, at the United Methodist Church, 20 S. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls, OH, 44022, (440) 247-5848. Barry Stees is the Assistant Principal Bassoon, Sandra L. Haslinger Endowed Chair, of The Cleveland Orchestra. The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the “Big Five”.
The Stees Fusion of Music and Art program is performed by Barry (Barrick) Stees, bassoon with; Randall Fusco, piano and the Callisto Quartet: Paul Aguilar, violin; Rachel Stenzel, violin; Eva Kennedy, viola; Hannah Moses, cello; and Cynthia Watson Sperl, oboe. Their program includes:
- “Going to The Sun: Snapshots From Glacier National Park”, by Jenni Brandon (b. 1977 – )
- “Composition #8” by Jiří Trtík (b. 1989 – )
- “Composition #8” by Wassily Kandinsky,
- “Shapes for Bassoon and Piano” (2019 World Premiere) by Jeffrey Rathbun, (b. 1959 – )
- “Shaping Reality”, knitted images and video by Melinda K.P. Stees
- “Andy Warhol Sez” by Paul Moravec (b. 1957 – ),
- “Museum Pieces” by Susan Kander (b. 1957 – )
- “River of Light” by Daniel Baldwin (b. 1978 – )
- “El Rio de Luz” by Frederick Edwin Church
- “L’Appel (The Call)” by Désiré Dihau (1833-1909)
- “L’orchestre de l’Opéra” by Edgar Degas
Going to the Sun: Snapshots from Glacier National Park for oboe and bassoon explores the beauty of Glacier National Park in Montana. When Jennifer Gookin Cavanaugh approached me about writing a work, she told me how much she has always loved visiting the park and that it had been a family tradition for many years. Both Jennifer and Elizabeth Ball Crawford, who premiered this work, taught at the University of Montana at the time of writing this work. I thought it fitting to write a work that highlighted the performers’ close connection to the area in which they lived.
As I began to spend time with hiking books, topographical maps, and pictures taken by many visitors to the park over the years, I knew that a work about a journey through this park would be a great way to share not only Jennifer’s memories, but also the many travelers on the Going to the Sun Road. Those fifty miles across the park bring the visitor in contact with lakes, weeping walls, animals, meadows, the Continental Divide, and the power of the glacier that now moves closer and closer to extinction due to climate change.
The work is in one movement; however, it is broken into several sections. I liked the idea of telling these stories like looking back at snapshots you might take on your vacation to remind you of these natural and manmade wonders:
- Early morning on the Road
Fifty miles begin - Sunrise on Lake McDonald
- Driving the Loop
- The Weeping Wall
- Stepping onto Jackson Glacier Overlook
- Jackson Glacier
- Sunset at the end of The Road
- Weeping Wall
The oboe and bassoon are great story-telling instruments, lending their voices and character to each of these sections, painting the landscape with texture, range, and song. And while the vastness and beauty of this park is too big to capture in any work of music, it is my hope that the listener can travel this road with us through this natural wonder and remember the importance of supporting our National Parks.