Ensemble

We all have the pandemic in common, but no individual experience was exactly alike. When the shutdowns began, my immediate goal was to maintain the status quo and to re-establish a sense of control over my life. What I wrote during this initial and very short period was a failure.

In my efforts to prolong the known and comfortable, I was losing touch with what usually animates my work: the shape and contour of my life and the lives of those I love. What followed was an electronic work that forms a wall of sound that ultimately gasps into nothingness. You can find it here: https:/ / www.colinkemper.com/electronic.

In 2024, Maestro Ransom Wilson commissioned the original work to be orchestrated for an ensemble comprised of Huxford Symphony Orchestra musicians. This arrangement, for string orchestra, is the result. I offer many heartfelt thanks to Maestro Wilson, the Moody
School of Music at the University of Alabama, and to the individual Huxford performers who bring the piece to life.
 

We need records of what happened during the shutdowns, and I hope this piece contributes to our collective memory.