Alex, grinning with some of her wind band scores
at the Hal Leonard booth;
2014 Texas Music Educators Association convention.

Program Note:

SUSPENDED is an emotional journey, and the catharsis I felt throughout the eight months of writing it helped keep me sane amidst a world of dismal uncertainty. The piece is composed in the tradition of an 18th century Classical symphony: four contrasting movements which serve specific functions and reveal a story. The work begins in absolute rage and chaos, then alternates between moments of grief and bleakness. Grim reality shifts to a macabre, circus-like insanity, and by the end, flickers of genuine hope contrast a pervasive sense of dread, and finally arrive at more optimistic possibilities.

A piece of music should stand on its own, regardless of any message its composer may attach to it. Audiences don't read about music, they listen to it. But as Victor Hugo wrote, "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent".

The arts have a powerful role in improving society by awakening consciousness through thought-provoking, emotional moments. If a piece of music can spark conversation among listeners, that is a meaningful impact, and a benefit in addition to that of the notes themselves.

Watch the Eastman Wind Ensemble perform SUSPENDED on March 23, 2022, with conductor Cynthia Johnston Turner, at Kodak Hall, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.

Please note: The audio tracks in movements 2, 3, and 4 were not fully picked up by the video microphone. The audio in the hall is as loud as the ensemble, as can be best heard in the .WAV recording above.

Program Note:

One of the best things about being a composer in the 21st century is that there are no stylistic limitations on how we can express ourselves. The freedom to be unconcerned with fitting into any prescribed expectations of others is a gift, and one that's amplified with age and perspective. I happened to complete my 60th solar rotation as I composed this music, and when the piece unexpectedly veered from my intentions stated in its pastoral opening to something with a different kind of energy, I viewed that as a positive metaphor for life, for creativity, and for the joy of becoming old enough to blithely follow one's instincts.

On the opposite end of this emotional spectrum, it was just as I reached the final exuberant phrases of FREE that Russia launched its brutal, unconscionable war against the Ukrainian people. Writing such sanguine music to this hideous backdrop intensified my horror for the many victims whose lives only days before were not unlike mine: free. This piece is not a reflection on Ukraine, nor is it about cruelty. However, none of us exists in a bubble, and events in one part of our planet effect everyone, particularly when suffering is involved. May calm and freedom return to all.

Program Note:

Much of the year 2020 is epitomized by the concept of being deprived of breath. From the lung-destroying effects of COVID-19, to the murderous strangulations of police brutality. From the searing, choking walls of wildfire smoke, to the smothering treason of politicians attempting to asphyxiate democracy.

It was tempting to title this piece, "2020". But the pandemic, the systemic racism, the climate changes and the abuses of power that churned malevolently as I composed this music, although heightened by a collective awareness, are not new. 

As quarantine has led millions of people to repeat the same day over and over, a simple theme of twelve notes repeats nine times, painfully slowly, always in the same order. A piano, rather than a wind instrument from which a deadly virus might be spread, offers up one pensive note at a time, paired with an atmospheric soundscape. As people attempt to stay connected to others through the internet, the combination of isolation and technology are a familiar theme.

The static bleakness begins in grayness, becoming only more grim as time passes. Three quarters through, the orchestration gradually fills with sounds made from humans, not computers. The electronic track stops. The technology stops. All we hear are live musicians as the conductor, formerly tethered to unrelenting demands of a metronomic click track, is finally able to allow the ensemble to breathe freely. Phrases climb upward from uncertainty, but of course there is no resolution. There can never be a resolution, because humans are not capable of it. But there can be hope, and breath.

Program Note:

POP MUSIC celebrates dedicated band students who were unable to do something they love—gather, rehearse, and perform—for an extended period due to precautions against the Coronavirus pandemic. A circus-like atmosphere often accompanies the seriousness of our times, and a little clown-like silliness and, uh, balloonacy…may be good for a much needed laugh after years of uncertainty in which the only constant has been the lack of constancy. As for the title? It's an ironic nod to all our unmet expectations. This piece is neither pop music, nor does a single balloon explode. At least, not intentionally!

CLICK THE PHOTO BELOW to watch the band members of Glenbard North High School become mimes during the opening of POP MUSIC, for its premiere performance May 12, 2022, with conductor (and circus ringmaster!) Lauren Whisnant.

Program Note:

By the time a person is four years old—long before their first fun wind band class—they can count to ten. So I've never understood why beginning music students are only given pieces in rigid, often plodding, 4/4, 3/4 or 2/4 meters. Music, like life, is neither rigid nor plodding (well, at least not interesting music!). Thus, COUNT TO TEN is my contribution to the repertoire for musicians who have a lifetime of wonderful, compelling pieces ahead of them that will be filled with chromaticism, syncopations, and mixed meters.

With its built-in drone and percussion parts, the piece is designed to sound good acoustically, but it will sound many times better when the students are paired with any of the cinematic-style accompaniment tracks—especially the "Full" version that combines all three elements of the percussion (strong downbeats and steady quarter beats), the Bb drone (for tuning and atmosphere), and the groove ostinati weaving through the music and adding a modern syncopation. Each track is offered in a choice of four tempi.

The premise is simple: count up, then down again from a grand peak of 9/4. This is not a time signature I would normally choose even for professionals, because it's easier to read subdivisions. But there's an important and purely psychological reason I opted for it here: if less advanced musicians can achieve playing in 9/4, it may forever dispel any fear they'll have of large meters, and playing in 5, and maybe even in 7, will seem like a relative breeze. In other words, in addition to being a primer for contemporary repertoire, COUNT TO TEN is a psyche-out: if you can count to ten, you certainly can count to nine!

CLICK HERE to peruse Alex's
Activist Music LLC catalog
at Sheet Music Plus

With music preparation guru John Blane, Alex proudly shows off her ever-growing rack (!) on display at Hal Leonard's booth at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, December 2018.

Here's John Blane with Bruce Bush, Hal Leonard's former manager of Retail and Marketing, showing off Alex's rack at the 2021 Midwest Clinic- because she couldn't be there to do it herself! CLICK THE PHOTO TO WATCH the cute video they made when they Zoomed Alex over!