Finally Finished!

I finished orchestrating Journey, the fifth and final movement of the American Discovery symphony. As the title implies this movement for a full orchestra provides an overview of the total American Discovery experience. It also is the most touching of the movements. If you watch only one of the five movements this is the one to see in its entirety.

Now that the composition phase of American Discovery is over the production phase has begun. I will be collaborating with Kim Scharnberg, Gabriel Lofvall and folks from Yale to have the premiere of the symphony performed at the Norfolk Music Shed next summer, the tenth anniversary of when we started our walk across the country. Here is a recap of the brief for Journey.

When my wife Cindy lost her job because of early cognitive decline, we resolved to reboot her life with a long distance hike along the American Discovery Trail. We walked over 5,000 miles from the Pacific coast back home to Connecticut, over a full leap year of 366 days. The journey lived up to the name of the trail we followed; we discovered America in ways few people experience.

American Discovery uses music, photos, sound effects and interviews to portray this journey across America. Five movements of Beauty, Culture, Kindness, Joy and Journey portray different themes of discovery. As the symphony unfolds an additional theme emerges: a loving couple living life fully despite a tragic affliction.

Journey features an orchestra, acoustic guitar and vocals to portray the adventure of walking across the country. Modulations during the piece recall the themes of all the previous movements. The Spirito bulk of the final movement conveys the actual walking across 5,000 miles of America, while a Serene intro and conclusion correspond respectively to background before and reflections after the journey. The movement conveys a concluding, inspirational message of dealing with tragedy by living life fully and discovering America.