Description

For Pushing Back, I was asked to craft a socially relevant piece that would be a reliable performance option that incorporated electronics. Ultimately, we decided tape would be the best accompaniment for the project. One stipulation brought the piece to life: that the music and narration would exist on a more gender-neutral plane than these performers felt much of my other work was on, so no performer would feel like the narration couldn’t be about them.

So instead of misogyny and assault, I went with an old standby: Millennial despair. The heart of Pushing Back was born of the frustration I see in my peers, colleagues, and friends when considering our futures. It’s easy to fall into pessimistic (though maybe realistic) thought patterns that tell us if our country doesn’t nuke the world in our lifetimes, chances are good that climate change will do the job anyway. It’s a difficult pill to swallow, but it increasingly seems like the most likely timeline. I won’t spoil the piece, but Pushing Back is about coming to terms not only with all of that but with where our individual futures within structures that aren’t sustainable.

Notes to the performers:

Pushing Back is designed to be a piece that allows for as much or as little improvisatory interaction with the tape track as the performers would like. You can center your musical decisions around the fixed media, or around each other, or within any other parameters you find useful. Please note that five seconds of silence have been baked into the track to allow for fluid, stress-free starts. (If you time it right, it will sound like the sine tones are emerging from the series of sustains at the beginning.)

Though the piece is quite simple on paper, performer enhancements are welcomed and appreciated. Multiphonics, mutes, and other extended techniques that alter the sounds produced while maintaining the musical content of the score are vastly preferred. The improvised sections are designed to allow for more and more chaos (and conflict) as the piece progresses; I highly encourage continuing discussion through your rehearsal process so you and your duo partner are approaching these sections intentionally.

Run time: approx. 4’30”.

Frequently asked: May I chop up your program notes?
Answer: Please don’t! My notes are in many cases my only opportunity to speak directly to your audience. If limited program space is a consideration, consider linking them to this page via a QR code and/or reading them aloud for your audience during your set.
Can I download materials forever?
Answer: As long as my website is functional and the materials are stored there, yes. HOWEVER, I strongly encourage all performers to download all your performance materials immediately after purchase—technical difficulties can occur on both my end and yours, and I’d hate to leave you without your materials if a problem arises!

Perusal score coming soon—I am in the process of creating a second edition of this work.

Known performances:

Got any I’m missing? Drop me a line! (And performers: if you see yourself credited under a name you no longer use, I want to fix that! Send me an email with your old name, the new name you’d like it corrected to, and where it appears.)

• 6/27/2021, New York, NY
• 3/12/2021, Music by Women Festival, Mississippi University for Women (n.b.: this submission was entered before I came out)
• 3/3/2020, Archway Classical Academy, Phoenix, AZ
• 3/2/2020, Arizona State University
• 2/28/2020, Interference Series, Flagstaff, AZ
• 2/28/2020, Northern Arizona University
• 2/27/2020, University of Arizona
• 2/25/2020, University of New Mexico (world premiere)