Classical, Film, and Popular Music for Woodwinds & Harp
brings together
the magic of intimacy and adventure
in a contemporary adaptation of
a traditional musical ensemble,
re-cast for modern-life.
Fragments of ForEverAfter
Fragments of ForEverAfter (2021) is a collection of video excerpts from live performances in the Chicagoland area.
The first ForEverAfter show was cautiously booked in October of 2020 for a private food and wine pairing dinner.
With a residence of monthly performances throughout the year,
I had the great challenge of developing new material for the harp-sax format and got to explore the corners of musical genres typically not heard in saxophone repertoire.
Although the bass clarinet has a similar octave range as the tenor saxophone, it projects a warmer tone due to its wooden body of grenadilla (African blackwood).
Fragments of ForEverAfter is more of a sampler than a proper EP or album.
Ranging from popular classical and film to jazz, Top 40, and world music.
The majority of the fragments are passages between one to two minutes long - with a few exceptions of full arrangements such as "Pure Imagination (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)," "Flower Duet (Lakmé)," and "Do You Want To Build A Snowman? (Frozen)."
When choosing music,
it felt very natural to gravitate towards the tranquility of the harp, focusing on the gentle and calming qualities of the instrument.
More difficult was finding the “voice” of the sax parts and interpreting predominantly vocal music.
Where the tenor sax had too much sizzle, the similar-ranged bass clarinet sang with warm clairvoyance.
Escape Into Enchantment
Individual videos from “Fragments of ForEverAfter” are available on the Media page.
Fragments of ForEverAfter - Live Excerpts (The Complete Playlist)
Rather than begin with original compositions,
I chose to study the harmonious blend of woodwinds and harp by writing “cover” arrangements - reimagining them in various instrumentations and experimenting with their harmonic “fabric.”
These fragments span two-hundred-and-thirty-nine years of music, from a 1780 German aria by Mozart up to a Billboard hit by Japanese pop producer, Yoasobi, in 2019.
From the very first “FEA” writing session in January 2020,
I recorded, edited, and mixed all the instrumental tracks and video footage from Infinity Reset, my remote production studio.
The past two years of finding the ForEverAfter sound have been a journey into diverse interpretations of what I believe to be among the most expressive and beautifully written melodies by some of music history’s most celebrated composers.
Live performances from Fragments of ForEverAfter were recorded
at Vigneto del Bino and La Villa-Strada of the Chicagoland area in 2021.
Now Featuring: Fragment #4
“Across the Stars”
(Love Theme from Stars Wars: Episode II)