Bethanne Walker - flute
San Francisco Conservatory, October 2014

Lightning Rod was written, with admiration, for Bethanne Walker in October 2013. The work is the result of attempting to exploit some particular aspects of her virtuosity, which provide unusual freedom for the composer. The piece relies on the interplay between changing speeds of notes and textures that create the impression of being multi-layered within one instrument. The narrative of the music also hinges on a trajectory to extremes of register, with an acrobatic intensity that the performer must navigate. Additionally, the rhythmic language is highly precise and exploits the tension between mechanical accuracy in notation and natural human fluctuations that are part of the process of transforming the score into music.

Lightning Rod - for solo flute

Composer, improviser, and musicologist born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico 🇲🇽 Doctorate in composition. I play guitar in the experimental group Fat Pigeon and lead the large ensemble project Pinson Chamber Band.

Lightning Rod - for solo flute

Craig Davis Pinson