New Works

Souls of the Wind (2023) for concert band

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I can remember milkweed growing in my mom's garden since I was a child. Monarch butterflies swarmed the place each summer as they made their way north, feeding veraciously on the leaves from my mom's plants. During these times when caterpillars and chrysalises covered the milkweed garden, I grew to admire and appreciate the monarch butterfly.

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In recent years, I have returned home in the summer to see only a small fraction of the butterflies that would populate the place. While the overall population of the species was fine, I learned their migration was slowly fading due to factors such as climate change and pesticides. Many are simply staying put in places where the climate changed sufficiently for them to live year round.

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This is a major issue for various indigenous cultures in Central Mexico who view the butterfly as a connection between life and death. The monarch migration from the north coincides with the Dia de los Muertos. Popular belief is that the souls of peoples' ancestors return to them throught the monarchs.

 

It is quite tragic and sad to witness the migration fade. Such thoughts were in my head when I began composing Souls of the Wind during the summer of 2022. This energetic work for concert band reflects the vigorous migrations of the monarch butterfly in addition to the somber, yet uplifting, reunion of loved ones.

 

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*Performance information coming soon*  

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