Premiere

Emily Forster, flute; Sixto Franco, viola; Andrew French, bass – Fresh Inc Festival – June 19, 2020

Program Note

              I composed Sunlight on the Hardwoods entirely while remaining at home, “quarantining” with my husband and dog to protect ourselves and others from coronavirus in spring 2020. This period has been a strange and trying time for many, fraught with health and economic concerns and an uncertainty about when “normal” will return – or if we will ever go back to the way life was before. At the same time, I am deeply grateful for my quarantined circumstances: that home is with the person I love the most; that it is a place I can work, rest, exercise, be inside or outside, keep to myself, or have company; that it is a safe place – physically and emotionally – for me to be. I know many others are not as fortunate. The title reflects watching the changing season – winter into spring – and the increase in sunny days in Michigan from inside my home as the sun shines on my hardwood floors. Sunlight on the Hardwoods is my way of being grateful for what I have, even when so much of life is restricted and uncertain.

              Sunlight on the Hardwoods was written for the Fresh Inc Festival 2020. The commission was made possible by the Steven R. Gerber Trust.