Showreel June 2021

Always The Aggressor

GamesShowreelAug2021

What started out as an Orchestration project took a fun turn!

Defiance for Wind Ensemble

This piece was originally written for a dance duet. The idea of the duet was that the two dancers had a long history of dancing together, and as they were approaching a time in their life where they would be going their separate ways for awhile, they wanted reflect on their past, where they came from, and be thankful for their time together.

Reflection

This piece was a commission from Dr. Janet Phillips of Averett University. This piece is based on a tale from the Taino Indians, the natives of the Caribbean Islands. Long ago, the Taino people had a special reverence toward the flute. This instrument was used for special purposes, such as announcing the return of the hunters and declarations of love. For quite some time, the flute’s power belonged to the men, but in the beginning, the power was held by women. When women held the flutes, it was the job of the men to bring in the firewood and prepare the cassava bread (a staple food for the tribal villages). The sun saw this and became annoyed with the sight of women running the world. To rectify this, he came down into the forest and impregnated a woman, creating Jurupari. Jurupari stole the sacred flutes from the women and gave them to the men. The men hid them and held celebratory feasts without the women. When Jurupari’s mother discovered the hidden flutes, Jurupari was condemned to death. With the bits of him that remained, she created the stars in the sky.

Jurupari

This track is a movement from my 8 movement work overall titled "Who Am I?" premiering in the fall. This movement focused on how one can perceive themselves and the groups that they associate with to be pure and good and wanting the best for everything around them, but maybe when you take a step back, things aren't always so black and white in how you view yourself and others like you.

Who Are We

This piece was written to describe my feelings about where America was heading in this day and age. I was witnessing people completely ignoring the feelings of others. I saw people with darker skin tones fearing their for lives just for doing normal daily activities. I was inspired to write this piece while watching UNCG's Symphony Orchestra perform John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man.

Shar Joyner

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