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What Lies Within Us

Duration: ~ 5 minutes

Available from Adamo Press

Commissioned by World Projects for the Santa Rosa High School Concert Band

Premiered by Santa Rosa High School Concert Band at Carnegie Hall

6 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, bass clarinet; 5 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone; 6 trumpets, 4 trombones, French horn, euphonium, 2 tubas; timpani, 6 percussion

What Lies Within Us for concert band and narrator began as a collaboration with the students of Santa Rosa High School, inspired by their reflections on personal growth through adversity. Before the pandemic, the SRHS students faced the devastation of wildfires that destroyed over 2600 buildings. Shortly after, they endured the challenges of a global pandemic.

I was honored to listen to their thoughts on resilience, which shaped this work. The piece includes narrated quotes from SRHS students, culminating in a final quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The work opens with a full orchestra chorale, not yet fully realized, symbolizing inner strength. The theme weaves throughout, offering hints of the hopeful chorale. It leads to a section marked by ostinato percussion strikes beneath a haunting melody, which fades into a moment of stillness with chimes ringing at the octave. A quiet, introspective passage follows, allowing space for reflection. The piece returns to the opening chorale, this time fully realized—first quietly, as if uttering a truth for the first time, and then repeated triumphantly to close the work.

Difficulties serve to strengthen. No matter what happens around us, the most important thing is What Lies Within Us. - Note by Amy Scurria

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