Join the Consortium for Cobalt Blue and be among the first to premiere the work!
Consortium Closes July 1st, 2025
Join the Consortium!
*The California Conservatory Series showcases and commissions new music each year as a 21st-century version of the French Conservatory Contest Pieces tradition. These works will address many components of modern compositional innovations, including but not limited to extended techniques, improvisation, click track, sound design, and more! The pieces are intended to reach a diverse range of students and performers and encourage all flutists to fearlessly embrace the potential of being a modern flutist. For more information about the California Conservatory Series visit https://www.jenniflute.com/ccs
WATCH the World Premiere of Cobalt Blue by the
California State University, Long Beach Wind Symphony
Dr. Jenni Olson – soloist
March 8, 2025
Take a look at Score Examples:
1. From I. The Great Pyramid section – I. The Great Pyramid example
2. From II. The Grand Prix: Start Your Engines section – II. The Grand Prix example
3. From III. Western Sandpipers at the water’s Edge: Sparkle, like the sun on water – III. Western Sandpipers at the water’s edge example
Jenni Brandon speaks about her new piece Cobalt Blue:
Learn More about Cobalt Blue
Cobalt Blue: Concerto for Flute (with Piccolo) and Wind Symphony is inspired by the beauty and unique landscape of Long Beach, California, with the solo flute (with piccolo) as our guide through its sights and sounds.
The journey begins at the striking Walter Pyramid (I. The Great Pyramid), a cobalt-blue landmark rising 18 stories above the city on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. As the flute soars above, the Cobalt Blue theme emerges, weaving throughout the piece.
Moving through the city’s roads and highways, we arrive at the Grand Prix of Long Beach (II. The Grand Prix), where a rhythmic groove captures the speed and excitement of the race. Trombones mimic a Doppler effect as cars zip by, and the Cobalt Blue theme returns in a dreamlike slow-motion moments before accelerating toward the finish line.
Leaving the race behind, we head to the beach, where wind chimes and flute jet whistles evoke the ocean breeze (III. Western Sandpipers at the water’s edge). The piccolo sings the calls of Western Sandpipers in a solo cadenza using several transcribed Western Sandpiper songs, eventually joined by the flute section as birds play in the surf: running, darting, and soaring into the sky. Sunlight sparkles on the water as the solo piccolo gives us a bird’s-eye view of the water and sand below.
In majestic flight, we fly over the Long Beach harbor, glimpsing the Queen Mary with her iconic red and black stacks (IV. Majestic flight over the Queen Mary). As birds dive and glide above, we await the deep, resounding blast of her 55Hz typhoon whistle from the low brass and low winds. The journey concludes back at the Great Pyramid, bringing our musical exploration full circle.
