• chamber quintet; duration: 25-30 minutes
• composed in 1994
• premiere: Imagine '95 New Music Festival, Memphis, TN 1995
• performances:
  • New Performance Group of Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle) as part of Music in Motion, Miami, FL 1996
  • Alternate Currents Ensemble at the Now Music Festival, San Francisco, CA 1995

Flute/Piccolo, B-flat Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano

• Introduction
• Violin solo (final section of the solo)
• Clarinet solo (transition from the ensemble into the beginning of the solo)

• view the title page

American Dreaming draws on various musical influences for source material and style. Along with music of my own original composition, there are three extended solos in the piece which derive from various traditional American musics; a violin solo based on the playing of old-timey fiddler Tommy Jarrell, a clarinet solo based on the playing of early jazz clarinetist Johnny Dodds, and a piano solo based on the playing of the boogie-woogie pianist Big Joe duskin.

American Dreaming also contains elements of performer choice. Several ensemble sections of the piece, as well as all three of the solos, present material in the form of musical fragments. These fragments may be repeated as many times as desired, giving performers the chance to create dramatic and collage-like effects.

Available from:

• The composer: $60 plus $4 shipping. (submit order)