Pathfinder
2026
For Woodwind Quintet
Duration: c. 6
Written for the Newfound Chamber Winds Summer Music Festival: Tidewater Composition Workshop.
Premiered on June 11, 2026. Chandler Recital Hall, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
For Woodwind Quintet
Duration: c. 6
Written for the Newfound Chamber Winds Summer Music Festival: Tidewater Composition Workshop.
Premiered on June 11, 2026. Chandler Recital Hall, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
Program Note
Recently, I have had a lot of questions about the future on my mind. Questions about my professional future, my personal future, and questions asking which path I should take next. While this kind of thinking is exciting, it has often weighed on me. How could I make a choice without any idea of the result?
This weight has lifted, however, with the knowledge that, while not every step will take me exactly where I want to go (if I even know where that is), the step will take me in a direction, nonetheless. It appears, more often than not, that a direction is all that I need to know. The path need not be straight, as long as it makes progress in the right direction.
Pathfinder explores this notion. It starts with all the instruments focused on one pitch (as if focused on a cardinal direction) and gradually fans them out to explore the area around it. Along this path, there are a multitude of related melodic and textural ideas. By rotating through these ideas, the direction becomes clearer and the tone focuses. Pathfinder concludes as the music lifts higher and higher, as if rising up and out of the work.
This weight has lifted, however, with the knowledge that, while not every step will take me exactly where I want to go (if I even know where that is), the step will take me in a direction, nonetheless. It appears, more often than not, that a direction is all that I need to know. The path need not be straight, as long as it makes progress in the right direction.
Pathfinder explores this notion. It starts with all the instruments focused on one pitch (as if focused on a cardinal direction) and gradually fans them out to explore the area around it. Along this path, there are a multitude of related melodic and textural ideas. By rotating through these ideas, the direction becomes clearer and the tone focuses. Pathfinder concludes as the music lifts higher and higher, as if rising up and out of the work.