Orchestration
1pic .2fl. ob. 3cl. 1bcl. 2alto. tenor. bari. bn. cbn. 3trp. 4hn. 3 tbn. 1eph. 1tba. 1db. timpani.marimba,.2 perc. piano

Duration
9 minutes

Premiere
Premiered by Florida Gulf Coast University Wind Ensemble 2019

Program Note

Mountain Roads reflects on a cross-country road trip that I took with my fiancée in the summer of 2018. Within the span of a month, we drove over 3,000 miles from our home in South Florida to South Bend, Indiana and back. Along the way, we took the time to explore Chicago, Nashville, and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. As a native to South Florida, escaping the summer heat and humidity to have the experience of watching flatlands turn into hills, and hills turn into mountains was both a breathtaking and awe-inspiring opportunity. This piece attempts to portray the vast array of emotions one feels when driving through the winding roads of the Great Smoky Mountains. Excitement, reverence, peacefulness, and wonder join together to tell the emotional story of this great American landscape.