cope (2017) for vibraphone and tape

Premiered Friday, April 14 at The Schneider Museum of Art at Southern Oregon University amongst a multimedia exhibition entitled "Convergence: Digital Media and Technology" 

I began writing "cope" in December 2016 after my dear friend, Matthew Reynolds, asked me to present a piece at a Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration his campus was hosting the following month. An early sketch of the piece was presented at his campus in January 2017. My initial reactions to the idea of writing a piece for such an event in a time of political unrest caused me to feel a bit overwhelmed. 

"cope" is born out of a desire to deconstruct systems, to simplify and rationalize a set of specific ideas in search of the ideal––a somewhat dangerous notion depending on where you call home. It is not an inherently political work. (Although, one of the earliest sketches was dedicated to the memory of Eric Garner, whose finale, pleading, haunting words were (eleven times over), “I can’t breathe,” as several officers squeezed and pressed the life out him on a sidewalk. This inclination was overcome and the dedication struck for several reasons.) To me, this piece is a reprieve, an opportunity to simply reflect.

Jared Brown