Our Great Emergency
For Classical Guitar and Electronics | 6’45” | 2023
Program Notes: Our Great Emergency was written in response to reading "The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler. One of my best friends recommended I read it, as it profoundly impacted his life. While reading it, I remember clearly telling him regularly how out of date some of the concepts were, BUT what I do think that this book provided me was a new way of considering all of the specific questions we should be asking ourselves when it comes to the climate change crisis. I met Pedro Lopes Baptista at a music festival in Pullman, Washington. We both had to fly there. We also had to drive from Spokane, Washington, approximately 75 miles away, to get there. I discovered that he had no reliable transportation back to the airport, so we ended up bonding by carpooling back to the airport together. As I reflect on getting to know this incredible performer, I realize that I built a new significant artistic partner who happened to live thousands of miles away from me. It made me incredibly existential that if I wanted to connect with this human deeply, it would likely need to be from afar if I wanted to be ultimately responsible. However, that can feel incredibly limiting from the perspective of someone who loves to travel and explore the world. This piece reflects my optimism towards humanity and the yes and approach I usually feel towards discussing challenging concepts such as climate change. We are human, and for many of us, we have a want to connect. How can we find solutions to the world's most complex issues without losing our ability to connect? How can we find alternatives to air and car travel, and how can we convince a skeptical public that these new resources could benefit them in the short and long term, even if they don't immediately recognize them? One of the ways that I reflect on this was by the inclusion of quotations from Portuguese composers. Jorge Manuel Marques Peixinho Rosado, to whom Pedro has devoted much of his research. One of the features of his work is the use of quotations, so throughout the piece, you can hear small snippets of his work, as well as quotes from my work, in particular certain gestures coming directly from my work You, Me, Us (the piece I wrote directly before this), in the second movement, You Taught Me How to Fly.
Commissioner: Pedro Lopes Baptista
