In exactly 48 hours, for those who are in the Niagara Falls region and friends in Buffalo New York, the sun will be temporarily blocked by the moon for an estimated duration of 3 and half minutes. Everyone from the Greater Toronto Area in Canada and neighbouring cities as well as those living in upstate New York are all getting very excited about this rare celestial event, to the point of having Canada’s Niagara region's officials declaring state of emergency as it prepares to receive an estimated crowd of over a million tourists coming to see the eclipse!
In anticipation of this rare astronomical event, I have composed a piece of music to coincide the 3 and half minutes of the eclipse's totality, to be performed in darkness while under the shadow of the moon.
The inspiration for this music started with a couple of pieces of chicken wings; after a concert on March 16th in which my sister Rosy played the Elgar Concerto with the North York Concert Orchestra, I crashed the after-party with the musicians to celebrate the success of their performance. Being subtle about riding on my sister's coat tails, I left her mingling with the conductor and board members and found myself a seat in the corner of the room next to Duncan Andrews, a french horn player in the orchestra with whom I have collaborated before (playing together in the pit for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat"). Duncan offered me a piece from his plate of honey-garlic chicken wings and I happily munched on it as we started a conversation about the up-coming eclipse. Duncan told me of his dream of playing a piece that was the same duration as the totality of the eclipse while it took place. "Maybe I can find a composer I went to school with and write the thing." He mentioned, casually, knowing that we went to the same high-school. I took the hint, and a couple more pieces of chicken wings as the catalyst for this composition.
Aside from Duncan and I, another trumpet player from the orchestra who sat across the table also took part in this composition. When my sister came over to say hi, we told her about it, and in that moment we decided the piece would be for french horn, trumpet, with my sister on cello and myself on viola. The evening ended after a few more drinks and I went home and downloaded Sibelius.
Writing the piece was the easy part, especially while going through a break-up from a 3-year long distance relationship; I channeled my energy to the notes on the page and focused on the music instead of dwelling on all the negativity of the emotional baggage. After spending a few hours a day in solitude, I had the score completed within the week and emailed it to the group. Everyone seemed surprised that I actually took this idea seriously, especially the trumpet player, who mentioned that he's unable to join us for this at all having already made plans for an eclipse date with his wife. So I messaged the most reliable trumpet player I know, a gentleman by the name of John Qian who has a real estate business by day and plays trumpet for fun when not making million dollar deals flipping houses. He loved the idea and jumped onboard without hesitation, "It's my birthday that day!" He added, making it extra special; I'm sure this will be one of the most memorable birthdays of his life!
Now we have the piece, and the musicians to play it. The next question is, where do we play it, and for whom? As the composer, my job didn't end with just putting the notes on the page and sending out the score and parts to the musicians, now I have to find the perfect location to present this music, where an appreciative audience can enjoy it without distraction!
With this big question mark hanging in the back of my head, I went to have a meeting with a business partner during the last week of March about a concert salon for Jean-Paul Aydeloof I was producing at her venue on the first day of April. After the meeting, as an after-thought, I asked her if she knew of any good places to do an out-door concert in the Niagara Region with a good view of the total eclipse. She immediately offered to connect me to her friend who owned a vineyard in St. Catharines, after a conference call the next day, we were in business.
In 48 hours, we will be performing for the first time ever, Eclipsed Eclipse - 3'33" in the Moon's Shadow as the moon covers the light of the sun over Rockway Vineyards. For those who have yet to make a plan for viewing the eclipse, this is an option where you don't have to fight for elbow room in the crowd of a million tourist at Niagara Falls, where you and your family and friends can relax to the live music performed by our ensemble of comprised of a trumpet playing birthday boy, the french horn who came up with the idea, my superstar cellist sister Rosy, and yours truly, the composer of the music and presenter of the event. Hors d’œuvre and wine tasting as well as some close-up magic and wine-bottle art-making will also be a part of the event!
Space is limited, please register your spot now for your chance to be a part of this once-in-a-life-time Musical Eclipse Event!
Comments