My new commission responds to a work by visual artist Mie Preckler. For the past decade, Mie has created a “landscape intervention” at the I-Park Foundation entitled a Conversation with the Gravel Pit. In the early 20th century, a large swath of land in what is now I-Park was used for gravel mining. The odd bluffs, mounds, and bowls in the earth have been softened in recent decades by forest growth. Mie’s project has been to “edit” the landscape to subtly expose the strangeness of the topography once again, with each intervention site connected by trails.
I-Park is holding a tenth anniversary celebration of the project, and I have been invited to compose a work for the occasion. It will be a set of three pieces, each responding to a different place along the trail and its balance of artificial and organic. I am especially excited to be writing for flutist Amanda Baker and guitarist Daniel Corr. We will not meet in person until the premiere, but through the wonders of the internet, I will see and hear them rehearse as the project progresses, collaborating with them to improve each draft.
