"Trees on a Wire" chamber orchestra piece to premiere in Whitehorse

The Problematic Orchestra led by Daniel Janke will perform my new chamber orchestra piece called "Trees on a Wire" at the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse, December 20+21. It'll be my first chamber orch performance and, to my knowledge, the first time my music hits the atmosphere in the North.

[fanfare] 📯

Every year, The Longest Night Society in Whitehorse presents solstice concerts by this orchestra, often featuring new pieces by Daniel Janke and ensemble members. I’m glad to join the roster of pieces for this year. You can hear recordings from previous years on their site.

You might say that this piece grew out of the woods on Haida Gwaii. There are no field recordings this time, unlike Labyrinth, but the inspiration was an entire layer of the biosphere that I only learned about a couple of years ago: the mycelial network.

This comes from my program notes for “Trees on a Wire”; it feels like forever ago when I wrote this, though it was only September.

"People need trees to live, and it turns out that our lives are sustained, in part, by vast networks of forests that communicate through an unseen fungal internet. I thought the mycelial network was science fiction (see Star Trek: Discovery) until I met a former mayor of Port Clements near the site of the famous Golden Spruce on Haida Gwaii. Through this network, he told me, fungi, trees, and other organisms pass nutrients where they are needed – sometimes kilometres away. They send signals when threatened. They help each other out. It seems the trees are talking."

(c) David Archer

Speaking of voices, the score asks a few of the wind players to sing mid-way through. (Can I call this a piece for choir and orchestra?)

How to hear "Trees on a Wire" LIVE:

1. get tix and

2. be in Whitehorse.

   OR

3. ask me for the score and have your local orchestra perform it ;)

   duration: ~3’30”

   current instrumentation:

   • 2 fl., ob., 2 Cl. in Bb, alto sax

   • tpt., trb.

   • timp., mba., perc. (wood block, susp. cymb.)

   • piano

   • strings

   Fun, right?