Threnody (pt.1)

"I want to thank you for welcoming me into your community for this performance, this afternoon. I am grateful for the opportunity you have given me to share this music -- it is very rare that I am asked to write about an event I feel so profoundly moved by.

And yet -- while I have tried to be as open and empathic as possible during my creative process, and I have tried my best to comprehend the significance of October 16th in your lives, I have never fooled myself into thinking that I really know you. I don't really know what you have been through, and I don't really know your experience. I don't know if this is a chapter of your life that is still open, or if this chapter has already been brought to a close.

But this is bigger than this performance, this afternoon. This music will endure, and will be performed in many other towns and cities all over the world, for many, many years. Some will grasp it's significance, and some may not -- but at the top of every score, and every part, it will always read:

IN MEMORY OF BRANDEN ATHERTON, DOUG GREENHALGH, THERESE GREENHALGH, MORGAN GREENHALGH, AND PAUL RASMUS

I thank you for being here, and for allowing me to be here with you."

(TO BE CONTINUED)