Movement I: Wildflowers from "The Wildflower Quintet" for reed quintet (Oboe/English horn, Clarinet in B-flat, Soprano/Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon)

"The Wildflower Quintet" for Reed Quintet (Oboe/English Horn, Clarinet in B-flat, Soprano/Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon) is a re-imagining of Jenni Brandon’s work The Wildflower Trio for oboe, bassoon, and piano.  This original version was commissioned in 2004 by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Texas at Austin to honor and celebrate the life and environmental work of Lady Bird Johnson.

The Reed Quintet version was commissioned and premiered by the Kalliope Reed Quintet in 2021.  https://kalliopereedquintet.com/

The inspiration for the piece came from a poetry book written by one of Mrs. Johnson’s friends, Bette Woolsey Castro.  Her book, The Wildflower, was inspired by the opening of Lady Bird’s Wildflower Research Center in Austin, Texas, and contains a collection of poems about wildflowers and nature.

The five movements are based on the imagery from several of these poems.  This new version of the work for reed quintet combines the beautiful colors of the ensemble to tell the stories of glorious fields of wildflowers, hummingbirds, and summer afternoons in quiet gardens.  

The original version was premiered and recorded by Rebecca Henderson-oboe, and Kristin Wolfe Jensen-bassoon.  They performed this piece around the world, including for Mrs. Johnson at her Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.

The reed quintet version was premiered by the Kalliope Reed Quintet during the 2021 ClarinetFest Virtual Festival as well as the 2021 International Double Reed Society 2nd Annual Virtual Symposium.

July 2021

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The Wildflower Quintet Movement 1: Wildflowers for Reed Quintet

The tallest dunes in North America are the inspiration for this work which tells of the incredible system of sand, salt flats, and streams.  The flute and marimba dance and flow as they tell the story of this unique topography.  Fun techniques for the flute like jet whistle, flutter tonguing, and key clicks all add a unique element to creating the world of the Great Sand Dunes, while the ever-moving marimba part creates a sense of fluid motion.

Premiered by Matthew Coley-marimba and Iva Ugrčić - flute

Great Sand Dunes for Flute And Marimba

Double Helix for bassoon and piano was commissioned in 2014 by bassoonist Christin Schillinger to premiere and perform with Jed Moss on piano.  This work is inspired by the sculpture of the same name by Long Beach, California sculptor Susan Hawkins. This sculpture depicts two separate figures dancing around each other, weaving their stories together, but never touching.  I loved the idea of using terms that are frequently used to describe dance and began to see the curves and lines and unique topography of these sculptures as fluid and moving.  The bassoon and the piano become these two dancers, gracefully moving across a stage to tell the story of this beautiful sculpture.

Double Helix for bassoon and piano

Performance by the Flower Mound Women's Choir under the direction of Linsday Swartwood. 

Poetry by Annabelle Mosely.  
"You, 
the sand dollar I have found, 
are marked with little holes 
in your nature, 
powdered and breakable.... "

For SA choir and piano. Part of a commissioning consortium sponsored by Graphite Publishing for the 2015-2016 concert season.
www.graphitepublishing.com
jennibrandon.com


Breakable

"We Are Joy" - piano concerto with choir and chamber orchestra, written by Jenni Brandon, was commissioned by the Long Beach Camerata Singers under the direction of Dr. Robert Istad.  This work explores that joy is within all of us, using the voices of the SATB choir, piano soloist, and chamber orchestra to tell the story.  Poetry by Oliver Mayer.

We Are Joy - measure 71 to letter F

We Are Joy - letter H To measure 110

We Are Joy - letters G To H

We Are Joy: Letter D To E

When I first started to write this work I thought I would tell two separate stories – one of the ocean, its ebb and flow between high and low tide, and then the stories of the creatures that lie in the tide pool.  As I began to write, however, I realized that there is a strongly symbiotic relationship between these elements.  The creatures, always present, appear and disappear under the frothy flow of the water.  We glimpse them briefly before the waters swirl and darken, and it is finally when the ocean recedes slightly during low tide that the treasures of these tide pools are fully, yet briefly, exposed.  Throughout this work the water flows and froths and swells, coming and going, and offering glimpses of the creatures that make their living in the folds and crevices of shoreline rocks.  And while I thought I would give equal time to both parts, I realized that in nature both are intertwined in a constant dance of survival and beauty.  
Throughout this work the creatures of these tide pools will appear and disappear, sometimes allowing us to glimpse them for just a moment, or allowing us a longer view of their often hidden world.  And the ocean is itself a character in this dance, swirling and floating, rushing and tumbling, over and over again, revealing and submerging these creatures in a never-ending give and take of life and death.
This work was commissioned by bassoonist Christin Webb and premiered by her and Janess Johnson on Cello at the Laguna Art Museum in May 2017.  Co-commissioners to be added.

Tide Pools

When I was commissioned to write this piece for premiere during the inaugural year of the SATB choir at Flower Mound High School, I knew I wanted to write a piece that spoke to the young women and men that would be premiering it.  I wanted this work to have a message that they could relate and connect to.  In searching for special poetry for this project, I put out a call for poems from living poets.  It was Carisa Kozicki’s poem “All That You Need is You” that fit my idea of this them perfectly – inspiring young women and men to believe in themselves and to follow their dreams.  

In writing this piece I wanted a work that was both uplifting and joyful, exploring the winds of change that make us stronger and more resilient.  The opening soloists represent the individual voice, and along with the choir, ask the questions that lead us to the conclusion that “all that you need is you.” 

It is an honor to write this work for Lindsay Swartwood and Mark Rohwer and the young women and men of this inaugural season of this choir at Flower Mound High School.

All That You Need Is You by Jenni Brandon

CANE: Bassoon Concerto with Reed Quintet
Music by Jenni Brandon
www.jennibrandon.com

The first concerto of its kind, Cane tells a dramatic story of one bassoon reed’s journey from its origins as raw, organic cane, to the final joy of playing on the finished reed.  The colors of the reed quintet and the virtuosic solo bassoon intermingle in this through-composed piece to take the listener through this vivid experience. Rhythm, lyrical lines, extended techniques, Afro-Cuban style music, jazz and fugue join together to remind us that this is an organic process. From making reeds to making music, we come together to create performance. Ever changing and ever evolving, every reed and every performance is unique, and Cane promises to tell this story in a powerful and exciting new way.  

Premiered on March 8, 2019 in Ithaca, New York by the Limitless Collective:
Christin Schillinger, bassoon soloist
Lindabeth Binkley,oboe
Jana Starling, clarinet
Nicki Roman, saxophone
Elizabeth Crawford, bass clarinet
Marybeth Minnis, bassoon

CANE Mvt 4 Profile

CANE Mvt 3 Shape

CANE Mvt 2 Gouge

Multitudinous Stars and Spring Waters" by Jenni Brandon combines a collection of poems by women poets from a vast period of Chinese history. Their poems make up the larger picture of love and waiting, sometimes with disappointment and grief, of admiration, of marriage and of eternal love. The whole work is a love song – telling that age-old story of the push and pull of emotions that only love can cause.  The soprano and oboe are equals in this intertwining duet in telling this love story.  Both bring emotional weight to the work as they journey into eternal love as told through the final lines of the work: 
I am in your clay. You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt.
In death we will share one coffin.

Commissioned by Dr. Amy Yeung of the University of Tennessee-Martin, it was her vision of wanting to tell a love story through the voices of her culture that led to the creation of this work.  Premiered by Dr. Yeung and Doug Owens at the University of Tennessee-Martin in March 2018. Co-Commissioned by Esther Gray Lemus, Soprano.

Recorded by Amy Yeung, soprano and Doug Owens, oboe

Published by Jenni Brandon Music
Score available for purchase at www.jennibrandon.com

Multitudinous Stars and Spring Waters for Soprano and Oboe

"Ahead of All Parting" by Jenni Brandon for bassoon, mezzo-soprano, and harp takes the listener on a journey through memory, death, and the beyond.   The unique combination of the two texts in this work – interpretation and selections from Rainier Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus as well as E.E. Cummings poem why||do the tell a story coming to terms with loss, and celebrating the memories of someone who is gone.  The work explores memory and nostalgia, resignation and finally acceptance.

Ahead of All Parting by Jenni Brandon (selection 1)

Composed by Jenni Brandon
Libretto by Oliver Mayer
Directed by David Bridel

www.3paderewskis.com

At his grave, we meet three versions of Paderewski (one of them female): Ignacy the virtuoso pianist/composer, Jan the politician/founder of the Polish nation, and Paderewski the éminence grise/Paso Robles winemaker. Coming together and pulling apart, sifting through a lifetime of memories far too large for any one person, they summon the ghost of Antonina, their beloved long-dead first wife. In so doing, they summon the spirit of Poland itself. A compassionate opera about a man who changed the world not only through his music but through pure passion for life, whose memory instructs our own moment of ​political and moral crisis.

Music Director/Conductor: 
Jenni Brandon

CAST:
ANTONINA: Katherine Powers
IGNACE: Maria Dominique Lopez
JAN: Todd Strange
PADEREWSKI: Steve Pence

CHORUS SOPRANO: Ariel Pisturino
CHORUS ALTO: Courtney Taylor
CHORUS TENOR: Omar Crook
CHORUS BASS: E. Scott Levin


INSTRUMENTALISTS:
Violin: Amy Hershberger
Viola: Meredith Crawford
Cello: Paula Fehrenbach
Piano: Timothy Durkovic

Stage Manager: Seira Murakami
Costume Designer: Edina Hiser

Production Team:
Mark Seldis and Ian –Julian Williams

Rehearsal Pianist: Ron Barnett

Videographer: recording.LA

www.3paderewskis.com

Performed during the 
2019 Paderewski Lecture Recital
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Newman Recital Hall
University of Southern California

Presented by the 
USC Thornton
Polish Music Center

This presentation is commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and presented in collaboration with the Kosciuszko Foundation. Co-financing is provided by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland ad part of the multi-annual program NIEPODŁEGA 2017-2022. This project was originally commissioned in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the international cultural program POLSKA 100 accompanying Poland's centenary of regaining independence.

jennibrandon

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