Program Notes

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    Chesapeake Clementine was the last work I completed as a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and inevitably fostered reflection on personal identity and musical growth over the course of the 2-year degree program. I approached composition from a “music for use” standpoint a la Paul Hindemith at the beginning of the degree, and quickly realized I had no personal or emotional connection to my work. Two years having passed, and many personal hurdles overcome, my works, including this present piece, are now intense, highly charactered, and charged rhythmically and especially contrapuntally.

    Added to this recognition of a new found identity is a response to an artistic work from my sister Colleen Harkins, a work which features a prominent segmented clementine in the center.* Surveying the work, one experiences a numerous array of diversions to other fruits, lines, and points of interest, and my piece takes these inspirations as a point of departure for musical exploration and excitement. Add to this the following image: imagine this juicy segmented clementine rolled and drenched in Old Bay seasoning. This, in the abstract, is the essence of what my work is becoming, and what I am fast becoming about.

    Chesapeake Clementine was commissioned and made possible by the Steven R. Gerber Trust for the 2019 Fresh Inc Festival and premiered at the festival in June of 2019.

                                                                                                                                                                                                         May 1 2019

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*more of Colleen's work can be found here: https://www.colleenharkinsart.com/

Below is the piece that inspired Chesapeake Clementine: