We are honored to share Blugold Gwenyth Lark's musical accomplishment this summer. Gwenyth's composition "Through the Asteroid Belt" premiered center stage at the Atlanta Freedom Bands 30th Anniversary Concert in June and was well-received by the ensemble and audience! Take a listen (video link is below- performance starts at 02:18:21) to Gwenyth's first commission and their first piece written for concert band. Gwenyth conducted their piece after being nominated by mentors then commissioned by the Atlanta Freedom Bands Student Composer Program.
Gwenyth composed "Through the Asteroid Belt" to sound like what space actually is: empty and lonely. They wanted to show exactly what a floating asteroid millions of miles away from another asteroid would be like by composing a simple melody with an underlying texture while slowly building tension until it explodes in the brass towards the end.
"Traveling to Atlanta and conducting this piece was out of this world," Gwenyth expressed, "I made connections that I hope to keep for a long time." Gwenyth attests their success through the guidance of Dr. Nicole Fallin (Artistic Director of AFB- pictured left), Kurt Wackerly (Associate Director of AFB), Dr. Erika Svanoe (UWEC alum and Twin Cities-based composer- pictured second from the left) and Cliff Norris (Director of Development of AFB - pictured right.)
The mission of the Atlanta Freedom Bands is to provide positive representation of Atlanta's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, (LGTQ+) and ally community through music. AFB is a community-based, service-oriented organization that provides an opportunity for creative musical expression and outstanding entertainment in a welcoming, inclusive environment. AFB believes in the power of visibility to foster LGBTQ+ acceptance and strive to be a source of pride for their entire community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JYXtAV29TI&t=8301s
