Duration: ca. 7’

Program Note: Music for a Particularly Sparkly Afternoon was inspired by a special moment I experienced during my first year as a student at the University of Michigan. Being a native of Arizona, this initial year marked my first experience of a Midwestern winter. After weeks of relentless, grey skies, a refreshingly cloudless and sunny day came around in late February or early March. I stepped outside to take a break from practicing piano and encountered this truly stunning scene: the sky was a brilliant blue, the grass looked greener than ever, and the bare trees surrounding the pond crackled in the breeze.  As the breeze passed over the pond, the surface of the water sparkled and swayed, creating these beautiful, swirling, sparkling patterns. I may have stood in the same position for ten minutes, maybe less, maybe more, just soaking in this incredible scene. I knew in that moment that I had to write a piece about that sparkling water.