The genesis of this piece happened in 1998.  At the time I was marching with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps, had a love of music, and was experiencing being away from home for the first time.  I was living with a creative group of friends, all of whom were young, talented, and passionate about their art.  I first composed this piece purely from MIDI string sounds using an old, now defunct program called Encore.  I had only a high school level musical training and no music theory understanding to speak of.  I gave no thought to musical rules or formal structure.  At the time it was never meant for performance by a live ensemble; I simply enjoyed composing it and playing it for my friends.  While I still have the initial MIDI file, I wish that original recording still existed since I spent countless hours messing with the data and wrestling with Encore to make the piece sound as good as my 8-bit-era imagination could.

 

Now 20 years have passed and I have found myself reflecting on this piece.  I have used this music as a lens to reflect on my youth and my transition to who I am now.  I’ve set it for winds since that is my current interest, and have greatly enjoyed realizing the orchestration based on input from the Missouri Southern State University Wind Ensemble.  I am dedicating it to my two young sons, Ethan and Lucas, who will one day find their own artistic voices, and who may in time understand their father and his journey to being “grown up”.  And to my wife, Michelle, who has seen all of me.

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Ricardo J. Espinosa - December 2018