Performances

Premiere: Ruth Lenz, violin, Peter Lenz, ‘cello and James Winn , piano, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada, January 31, 2013

Argenta Trio, Argenta Concert Series, Nightingale Hall, University of Nevada, Reno, April 17, 2014

Program Note

Wild places are essential to me as a creative artist, and so I am grateful for any opportunity to visit them in person. Wilderness Portraits: Three Places in Nevada was completed in 2012 and is inspired by three such places within the state of Nevada.

I-The Jarbidge Wilderness lies in the remote northeastern corner of the state. I visited there  in 2011 for a solo backpack, spending the night at Emerald Lake. There were beautiful wildflowers that summer after a wet winter and an unusually late spring. I read somewhere that the name of this Wilderness Area derives from a Shoshone legend about a monster who collects (and eats!) children — this flavors the music with a hint of suspense.

II-At the southern end of the state, Mount Charleston soars high above Las Vegas at 11,811 feet. The trail to the summit consists of many switchbacks snaking through the forest, with some beautiful bristlecone pines along the ridges and a long traverse across a slope of rocky scree above timberline. As I climbed higher, the views of distant blue land forms away in the desert reminded me of waves in the ancient sea bed that had lifted up to become the mountain.

III-The third movement is an energetic march inspired by High Rock Canyon, the famous cut that travels through the high, desolate sage brush country northwest of the Black Rock Desert. The music embodies the liveliness of spirit that comes to me when I manage to escape the man-made world, crossing over for however long into the realm of the sublime.