Performed live on March 18th, 2025 as part of Christopher Keach's Faculty Recital, "Songs of Hope and Resilience."

Three Avian Mediations by Tyler Mazone

Keach Hopkins Duo

Andrew Voelker, piano

Program Notes:

Tyler Mazone, 1998, is a deaf and neurodivergent bass clarinetist and composer from Michigan. He is working towards a Doctorate in Composition at Michigan State University and is a graduate of there and the Crane School of Music. Tyler writes mainly chamber, solo, and large ensemble music. His music has been performed and commissioned by: professional ensembles such as The _____ Experiment, The US Air Force Band, The Reverón Trio, Imani Winds, various collegiate ensembles such as the Michigan State University Bands and Orchestras, Yale Concert Band, University of Illinois Bands, the Crane Wind Ensemble; and by individuals/organizations such as Andrew Hosler, Jennifer Oliverio, Diversify the Stand, Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Christopher Keach. Tyler is also self-published through his website and Randall Standridge Music. His main goal with these musical endeavors is to advocate for accessibility and to reach a wider range of audiences and performers by improving upon the framework of inclusive practices in music.

Three Avian Meditations, by Tyler Mazone, was commissioned by Christopher Keach and Margaret Hopkins in 2022. The idea for the work stemmed from an overnight hiking trip outside Halifax, Nova Scotia. On this trip Margaret and Christopher heard the calls of the Song Sparrow and began to hum, whistle, and sing melodies using their song as a guide. The calls were recorded and shared with Mazone and started as the basis for the piece.

Mazone writes the following about the work: “Each movement begins with a statement of the exact bird call by the first trumpet, or flugelhorn in the 2nd movement’s case, and the music that follows every time is a fantasy or meditation on that bird call. The Song Sparrow and Mourning Dove have very distinct melodic calls that one would commonly hear in a calmer setting, such as in a garden or in the woods. Black Capped-Chickadee is a direct contrast to the first two movements in which I expanded the bird’s famous ‘hey, sweetie’ call into a driving groove that takes up the entire movement with finesse and flare!”

This is the world premiere of Three Avian Meditations.