• hush was commissioned by Carrie Koffman for premiere at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia in July 2018. 

• Instrumentation: solo alto saxophone

• Duration: 6'

PROGRAM NOTE

hush, for solo alto saxophone, is fueled by a need to explore, unpack, and reexamine the ways a voice can be informed by received gendered language over the course of a lifetime. Reflecting on my own experience, I honed-in on specific phrases that have evolved in meaning for me and set them as spoken words within the context of contrasting musical lines—marked both “Entirely free” and “Driven, swing”—while exploring percussive, often breath-driven sounds that point to, among other things, pulse and heartbeat, and that contrast the recurring, sustained shush gesture that evolves over the course of the piece. 

hush was commissioned by Carrie Koffman for premiere at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia in July 2018. 

TEXT

hush for alto saxophone

Shhhhhhhh…

Shhhhhhhh… Speak up. Not too loud.

Shhhhhhhh… Smile. You’re pretty when you smile.

Shhhhhhhh… Make sure you ask nicely.

Stand up straight.

Straight, tall, slim.

Smart AND pretty.

Serious, but happy!

Strong, but not overpowering.

Capable, but not off-putting.

WAIT.

Wait.

Your.

Turn.

Shhhhhhhh… Listen.

Shhhhhhhh… Listen.

Stand up straight.

Shhhhhhhh… Speak up.