Written in Collaboration with Lieana Sherry for the 2020 UMKC Dance Collaboration, 'Still, we create'

"Ennui: Inspired by True Events" is based on our experiences with social distancing and isolation due to the Coronavirus epidemic. The Oxford Dictionary defines ennui as, "A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement." Ennui, we think, is the closest word we have to describe what we're currently experiencing. Through this piece, I wanted to tell a visceral story that deals with the unknown circumstances that we have come and will continue to endure. "Inspired by True Events" reimagines our reality. Seeing a threat looming on the horizon, weathering the storm, and envisioning a hopeful future.

ENNUI: Inspired by True Events (2020)

In this cue, I focused on what I felt was missing from the scene as it was aired on television. The creators decided to use Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", which was apropos to the content of the scene, but it severely lacked the sort of intensity that one would expect from a Hollywood car chase. In this scene, we see the full extent of Dolores' power. With her command over the world around her, she truly becomes The Orchestrator of Destiny.

The Orchestrator of Destiny (w/ foley sound)

Program Notes by the composer: I first met Kameron Sheffield at the Interlochen Arts Academy, where we bonded over a shared appreciation for a huge swath of musical genres and approaches. A Field of Chefs, written for Kameron, is a reflection of that. Jumping back and forth from classical, jazz, hip-hop, rock and soul, the piece never stays in one place for very long. The inclusion of electronic media facilitates these jumps, allowing for rapid changes in orchestration, tone and general aesthetic. Therefore, the compositional aspects that hold the piece together are not orchestration, or register, or style, but intervals, rhythmic and melodic motives, and harmonic 
language. Throughout the piece minor sixths, and their inversion, Major thirds dominate the melodic content, while dotted eighth note rhythms and similarly shaped melodic gestures create the sense of a protagonist, obviously played by the sax, walking through a shopping mall of styles, sampling one for a bit before moving to the next. This makes the piece feel somewhat improvisational, which is no accident. My initial plan with the work was to be completely improvised, with the fixed media providing all accompaniment and harmony for the saxophonist to work off of, but as the piece crystallized, this became more of a hindrance than anything else. However, there is still an improvised solo section in the middle of the piece, the electronic piano looping some chords over hip-hop percussion. Kameronʼs work on the solo is exceptional and fits into the piece seamlessly. The closing material actually comes from a funk song I had written for an earlier band which never came to fruition, with the melody and harmony to fit into the style of A Field of Chefs , just another cook taking up just enough space in the kitchen to add his own spice.

Clayton Woosley: A Field of Chefs

a flame in the light was written in collaboration with Colin Frederick for BodySonnet's dance concert entitled 'Neverover'. a flame in the light explores juxtaposition and contradiction. "When contradictory facts move into close juxtaposition, one of two things happens. If one fact proves wrong, then that's that. But sometimes the contradiction harbors two totally different faces of the same deeper truth. The opposing forces both gain in validity as they converge, and, finally, the universe changes." --John H Lienhard

i. a flame in the light 
ii. a flutter in the heart 
iii. a fire in the soul

a flame in the light

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