I was approached by my friend Ryan Mantell and was asked if I would be interested in writing a piece for Saxophone Ensemble. He has a fairly large private lesson studio and he started putting together studio recitals. He started an ensemble with all his students as well as quartets. He found that there wasn't really a lot of repertoire out for high school aged students that was challenging enough. There were a lot of really easy pieces and pieces at the collegiate level. 

I have always wanted to write for Saxophone Ensemble ever since my time playing in the Rutgers Saxophone Ensemble under Dr. Paul Cohen. There is so much color and versatility with ensemble and I am very familiar with the instrument and it can do. Ryan wanted something that would be fun and exciting for both the players and the audience so I decided to go with something that had a pulse. There's this constant forward motion in the piece all the way up to the very end.

I drew a lot of inspiration from John Adams' piece Harmonium for Orchestra and Choir, specifically the third movement Wild Night which is based on the Emily Dickinson poem of the same title. The piece has a bright vibrant energy that I wanted for my own, which is why the title is a little nod to the same poem. The piece ebbs and flows and builds in intensity as if the listener was along for a wild ride. The piece will be premiered in June of 2015.

*Some notes on the recording: This recording was made entirely by Ryan. He did a multitrack recording of him playing all the saxophone parts. I am incredibly happy with the recording and think he did an amazing job!

*Score coming soon*