COMMISSIONED BY: Tavia Zerman and the Hayes Middle School Bands (Grand Ledge, Michigan)
WORLD PREMIERE: January 19, 2022 | Grand Ledge High School Wind Symphony (Laura Schramm, David Funk, and Tavia Zerman, guest conductors; John Szczerowski, director of bands) | Grand Ledge, Michigan
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
—January 28, 2022 | Grand Ledge High School Wind Symphony (John Szczerowski, director of bands; Laura Schramm, David Funk, and Tavia Zerman, guest conductors) | The 17th Annual Michigan Music Conference (2022), DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids, Michigan
—Splendid Ridges - December 21, 2022 | Allen High School Saxophone Ensemble (Alex Baczewski, director) | The 76th Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference (2022), McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois

Several years ago, I began work on a composition for band that would ultimately produce two additional works inspired by Michigan, the state I was born and raised in. The Michigan Triptych became an exploration of aspects of the state I have come to love and admire, which in turn naturally led to a depiction of some of the notable landmarks and scenic locales that have existed in this place for generations. The project thus became an opportunity to revisit and reconnect with that part of nature I adored about Michigan.

Recently, I had the opportunity to re-connect with one of my former teachers from the years I spent in the town of Grand Ledge, Michigan. Tavia Zerman was my band director at Hayes Middle School and a huge inspiration to my musical development growing up, as she has been with so many of her students. As we started to discuss the possibility of collaborating together on a new work for band, she had an idea for what the piece could be about – a depiction of the town of Grand Ledge itself and its various wonders. This intrigued me because, to my knowledge, a considerable amount of time has passed since a piece of music had been composed specifically about this place. The more we began to formulate ideas for this music, the more it became clear that this concept could not be limited by the constraints of one piece. As one door closed on a triptych about Michigan, another door opened to a new triptych about a town in this state so familiar to me.

The Grand Ledge Triptych was commissioned by Tavia Zerman and the Hayes Middle School Bands. Each of the three pieces explores an aspect of Grand Ledge, Michigan that demonstrates several of the wonders this town has to offer. Splendid Ridges depicts a brief, but majestic statement upon viewing the town’s most famous rock formation for the very first time, the Ledges. Seven Islands conjures a ballad inspired by viewing a beautiful sunrise at the Seven Islands, the piece serving as an acknowledgement of this landmark’s natural beauty as well as the history of its popular amusement-park attractions that once defined it. Comets Ablaze! is a joyful, youthful, and fiery celebration of both Grand Ledge’s historical innovations and its public schools’ generations of students setting forth with new innovations, changing the world one day at a time.

My deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to Tavia Zerman and the Hayes Middle School Bands for entrusting me with this commission and supporting this triptych. My sincerest thanks especially goes to Mrs. Zerman for supporting me in my musical endeavors, when I was her student at Hayes and beyond. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to write this triptych about a place so familiar and life-changing for me. Most of all, I am forever grateful for the opportunity to give this music to a community that not only supported my musical development, but for so many of my colleagues as well and for many of its students for generations to come.