SNOW FALLING IN AUTUMN
String Orchestra – Grade 4
Recording: Vienna Synchron Stage Orchestra - Chris Pilsner, conductor (from the album “Elements”, out now on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, and more)
Duration: 8.5 Minutes
Program Notes
From 2014 to 2019, I had the privilege and honor to be the director of orchestras at Windsor High School in Windsor, Colorado. It was during these years that I met some of the most incredible young people I have ever met and I spent my days constantly amazed at how enthusiastic, diligent, and supportive they could be of not only themselves, but each other.
In March of 2019, I announced to my students that I was going to be “retiring” from teaching and moving onto a full-time career as a composer. It was, by far, the hardest conversation I’ve had with with anyone in my life and it devastated me to say the words. But no words could represent my love and respect for them. So I decided to express it in music instead.
“Snow Falling in Autumn” represents the last work in a series of pieces I wrote for my students during my time teaching at Windsor. It is a culmination of emotions that spans from pride in their accomplishments, to saying goodbye to relationships I will cherish for the rest of my days.
The title comes from my love for the state of Colorado and the first snowfall in Autumn that covers a color-changing canvas with a gentle white. It is unabashedly pastoral and was an opportunity to embrace my inner Vaughan Williams and Elgar to create something that not only gives the audience a view of the gorgeous landscape, but also one filled with hope, sadness, and all things that make us human.
It is forever dedicated to my incredible students, whom will be in my fondest memories for eternity.