Composed by Erin C. Blake

Performed May 12th, 2023

Arts Alliance Center, Bloomington, IN

Waterworks for mixed quartet was composed for Conserve Bloomington, a concert program led by Aislin Carpenter to promote environmental education through the performance of new music. For this piece, the participants explored Griffy Lake Nature Preserve, learned about the area from a local ecologist, and took field recordings to inform the compositional process. I sought to represent different sounds and experiences found in the forest, such as crunching footsteps, running and still water, trees shaking in the wind, and sunlight shining through the branches. This expands into an abstract representation of the calming yet powerful aspects of nature.

Gray Smiley, horn

Jaxson Rives, percussion

Irene Castillo, violin

Alexis Schulte-Albert, double bass

Sam Parnin, conductor