Freefall

Panic is the first movement of a larger work, "Freefall."

Freefall, for chamber ensemble, is a programmatic work about an unexpected skydive. For the piece, I crafted a story about a plane falling apart, leaving it's pilot adrift in the air. 

Panic is meant to be unnerving.  The body of the plane is falling apart, and the engine is failing, which contradicts all expectations for how the flight was supposed to go. The music is meant to convey the experience of despair, at having one’s plans so violently changed. 

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I. Panic

Freefall is the second movement of a larger work, also entitled "Freefall."

Freefall, for chamber ensemble, is a programmatic work about an unexpected skydive. For the piece, I crafted a story about a plane falling apart, leaving it's pilot adrift in the air. 

The second movement, Freefall, is about the dive that occurs after the plane falls apart. Our subject, the pilot, drifts in and out of consciousness, which is marked musically with contrasting textures. Each time he is lucid, he realizes with renewed terror the peril of his situation. This heightened awareness is conveyed with increased intensity. The movement ends with a repeating chord progression, that grows quieter and quieter, as the parachute-less pilot falls further and further. 

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II. Freefall

Sunset is the third movement of a larger work, "Freefall."

Freefall, for chamber ensemble, is a programmatic work about an unexpected skydive. For the piece, I crafted a story about a plane falling apart, leaving it's pilot adrift in the air. 

Sunset occurs after the pilot has come to grips with his situation. As he is in his last minutes, he is sole audience to a magnificent sunset above the cloud cover. I tried to paint a picture with my music of the colors dancing and being refracted upon the clouds. As the piece ends, the pilot dips into the clouds, ready at last for the impact. 

III. Sunset

Emerging composer Robin McLaughlin has had works performed throughout the United States, and has been recognized by ASCAP numerous times for her music. Twice a finalist for the Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, she has had work performed by ensembles such as the Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble, the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, and the Fresno State New Music Ensemble. 

Robin has been a fellow at the Norfolk New Music Workshop hosted by the Yale School of Music, and has also been invited to Composition Intensive at St. Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana. She has had numerous works presented at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and Houghton College, highlights of which include her saxophone quartet On this day performed by the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, and her orchestral work The Joy of my Spirit by the Houghton College Philharmonia as a winner in Houghton’s 2015 Concerto Competition. 

Enthusiastic about music education, Robin currently serves in an administrative position in University of North Carolina-Greensboro’s Community Arts Collaborative. As a pianist, McLaughlin has performed at the Kennedy Center, and has also been soloist for the Houghton College Symphonic Wind Ensemble. While at Houghton she studied with Bill John Newbrough, and she is a frequent collaborator, accompanist, and instructor. She has also studied conducting with Janette LaBarre, and guest conducted the Houghton College Wind Ensemble in April 2016.

Robin recently completed a Bachelors Degree at Houghton College in Music Composition and Music Education, and is now pursuing her Masters at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in Music Composition. She has studied composition with Mark Enbegretson, Sarah Hutchings, and David Horace Davies. She has had additional studies and masterclasses with Eric Ewazen, Martin Bresnick, Kristin Kuster, Cameron Britt, Zae Munn, Michael Schelle, and Jay Batzner. 

Upcoming performances of her music include her trio Two Halves of a Whole at the Music by Women Festival at the Mississippi University for Women, and her chamber piece Unbound at the SCI Region IV Conference to be held at University of North Carolina-Greensboro. The violin and piano version of The Joy of my Spirit will also be included in an upcoming CD being put out by World Oceans Music.