In the summer of 2018, the southern J-pod of orcas residing in Washington state's Puget Sound, gave birth to a calf for the first time in years. 30 minutes later, the calf died of malnutrition. The mother, who has been given the name Tahlequah, proceeded to mourn the dead calf by carrying it around with her for the next seventeen days. This level of mourning is unprecedented in orcas, and the story made international headlines. The J-pod’s primary food source is chinook salmon, which are endangered due to overfishing. This piece’s primary goal is to catalogue the tour of grief that the J-pod experienced throughout this time, with Tahlequah acting as the centerpiece. The central idea presented at the beginning of the piece initially serves as a beacon of hope for the J-pod, as it represents continued life in the face of starvation. As the calf dies, however, this idea becomes warped into a strained cry of grief, as the pod mourns the loss as a collective. As the music becomes more frantic and primal, the central idea becomes more focused on Tahlequah herself, and her refusal to let go of the calf. After a climax of suffering, the pod delivers one last eulogy, as Tahlequah learns to let go of the calf mentally, as well as physically. The piece concludes as the story concludes: with Tahlequah dropping the calf into oblivion as the pod moves on from mourning to mating with other pods.

Philip Sheegog, Joseph Staten, Ian Lum, Mari Coetzee, Osheen Manukyan, Michael Cantú, Jonathan Lien, Sebastian Stöger, cellos
Kyle Ritenauer, conductor
Premiered live at Paul Hall, The Juilliard School, 4-15-2019

seventeen days (2018) for 8 cellos

In the process of creating this piece, I would often go to a local park and lay on my back in the middle of a wide meadow, and soak in the beams of sunlight as they lit up my environment. As the yellow sunlight interacted with the vibrant green grass, the colors blended together to create new experiences. The images I experienced in these moments inextricably became the images running through my head as I wrote this piece, and thus the title, Chartreuse Beams, was born.

Read by the Juilliard Orchestra
Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor
10-4-2019

Chartreuse Beams (2019) for orchestra

a collection of free improvisations, mostly solo piano (and one with conch shell), that spawned over the course of the summer of 2020. each track is a different reconciliation with isolation, loneliness, and how much time has ground to a halt. most importantly, each track represents an act of self-care.

sleep - 10.18

tenacity - 8.20

numb - 7.31

broom - 8.15

choke - 6.14

descent - 8.9

stutter - 7.26

memory - 6.12

Webster Gadbois is a composer and improviser from Washington State and based in Los Angeles.

Webster Gadbois

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