“Music Now” a 21st century music recital by the Chamber Music of Maryville, Washington presents “Colored Stones” by Jenni Brandon on May 15, 2021 at 7:00 PM PDT. This is an online event on Facebook at “Music Now” 21st Century Music Recital | Facebook.  Maryville is part of the Seattle metropolitan area.

The program for the online concert is:

• “Colored Stones for solo bassoon” by Jenni Brandon
  Dr. Kate MacKenzie, bassoon
• “Family Miniature” by Andrew Hull
  Sungmin Lee, guitar
• “Hiraeth” by San Han
  San Han, piano
• “ElevenTwelve” by Joanna Ross Hersey
  Stacey Eliason, horn
• “Etude #2” and “Bossa” by Dain Herndon
  Dain Herndon, guitar

Colored Stones for solo bassoon tells the story of three stones: smoky quartz, lapis lazuli, and tiger’s eye. Some cultures and spiritual practices believe these stones have powerful qualities such as the ability to heal, protect, and offer spiritual guidance. The bassoon explores these beautiful stones’ unique qualities.

Smoky Quartz – An incredibly grounding stone, this smoky brown stone transforms and diffuses negative energy. The bassoon changes from a sense of grounding to playfulness, exploring this balance of energy. In the end, it always finds its way back to telling the story of the grounding quality of the stone.

Lapis Lazuli–  Prized for its colors, this deep blue stone was used by kings and queens in paintings and ceremonial robes. Believed to help foster truthful expression and communication, it supports the immune system and brings peace. The bassoon explores the luxurious blue color, mixing in flashes of gold found in the stone.

Tiger’s Eye – Tiger’s eye, a golden brown to deep red stone, is very grounding and can bring luck and ward off evil. The bassoon is sometimes “protective and seeing,” moving quickly to remove the look of the “evil eye” and other times moving dreamily through an ancient landscape of protective energy.

It was an honor to be chosen as the winner of the 2014 Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition and to have this work premiered by Susan Nelson.

Colored Stones for solo bassoon sheet music is available for purchase through Imagine Music Publishing  or Colored Stones – solo bassoon sheet music (jennibrandon.com)