Cloud Surfing (2020)

For String Orchestra

Score sample here.

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My love for aviation and the feeling of flight reaches back all the way to my early childhood; one of the earliest things I can remember is going to see my dad on the weekends and playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 for hours on end (and four year-old me crash-landing the planes more often than not - oh boy!). As the years passed by and I began considering what I wanted to do for my career, being a pilot was one of my top choices. While the exorbitant costs of getting an airline transport license, required to fly commercially, eventually led to my decision to turn away from a career in aviation for one of teaching and writing music, getting my private pilot’s license is still a dream that I hold onto and intend to pursue.

Cloud Surfing is a grade 3 work adapted from my earlier piece for symphonic orchestra, Amongst the Clouds. While it retains many similar musical ideas of the original, the piece has been adapted to be a good fit for younger orchestras who want to embrace the feeling of flight; the work is shorter, in a better range, and features simpler orchestration. Additionally, one unique feature is the optional addition of rain sticks during the turbulent section of the piece.