About this work:
Wild Silk for Baritone Saxophone, Percussion and Piano was commissioned by Jeffrey Heisler for the Primary Colors Trio, who premiered the work during the thirtieth annual Bowling Green State University New Music Festival at Bryan Recital Hall, Bowling Green, Ohio on October 24, 2009.
While composing this work, I found inspiration in the strikingly beautiful and elusive Luna Moth. The form of this piece loosely follows the three stages of its life cycle from egg to caterpillar, pupa, and adult moth. Apart from the constant threat of predators, the violence at each stage surprised me. As the caterpillar grows, it must break through its own skin five times. The pupa wriggles from within the cocoon during metamorphosis. The adult moth is deprived of a mouth, meaning there is an evolutionary preference for beautiful wings to attract a mate over personal survival. Without a way to nourish itself, the hours and days following eclosion are focused on the crazed goal of propagation. Perhaps it is a metaphor for the artist, who must completely renew and reinvent themselves over and again.
Many thanks to Jeffrey Heisler, Isabelle Huang, I-Chen Yeh, and Brian Amer for their artistic support. Duration, ca. 10:00.
News: Wild Silk was recognized with an Honorable Mention for the Theodore Front Prize from the International Alliance of Women in Music's 2011 Search for New Music.