Disconnected
- Trombone Solo with Symphonic Band
- Completed: 10 April 2024; Premiered: 12 May 2024
- Unpublished – Contact the Composer
This piece is a reflection on that "most disconnected" of times – the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone's experience was different and yet, I suspect the vast majority of people would share my sentiment of feeling disconnected from other people for a time.
My personal experience of this was in Malaysia, where I was serving as an academic dean at a private university. We had a heads-up on a Monday afternoon in mid-March, in the middle of a semester, that we would not be allowed on campus after Tuesday evening. Like so many around the world, we had to adopt a new paradigm at the drop of a dime (see what I did there?).
My wife was caught out of the country at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown and was not allowed to return for another 3.5 months. During this period, my only human contact was through a computer monitor or in the grocery store. My wife finally was allowed to return in early July, and the country even opened up for internal travel. You will hear this happier time in the middle section of the music.
Of course, this was followed by another strict lockdown a couple of months later, reflected in the music's return to the original theme.
This piece is dedicated to those friends and family who did not survive the pandemic. We still feel that disconnect.
The recording below is from the premiere on 12 May 2024 in Huntsville, Alabama, by Dr. David Spencer and the Twickenham Winds.
