Miss Minutes

Miss Minutes (2022) was commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival and School as a First Glimpse Chamber Music Commission. The work explores the 2022 AMFS season theme "Myths and Truths: What We Talk About When We Talk About Ourselves" through the alliterative and evocative turn of phrase "miss minutes." When we miss minutes, are we forgetting (missing memory), wasting time (missing opportunity), or careening off course (missing regularity)? When we find that minutes have been missed, can we enter a more desirable timeline? Further, this temporal concept becomes an entity when capitalized as a title: who is Miss Minutes? Musically, the percussion soloist, ensemble, conductor, and composer all take their turns as the piece's protagonist, grappling with the strict but slippery nature of a fleeting micro-concerto. Many thanks to Donald Crockett, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and the Aspen Music Festival and School for bringing this piece to life.