Grassroots

Instrumentation: Solo viola

 

Duration:  11.5 minutes

 

Year of Composition: 2018

 

Premiere: March 2018, Linda Kline Recital

 

Notes: I. Change is in the Air, II Disquiet, III Overcome

 

Program Notes: 

Grassroots was composed for violist Linda Kline to be part of an event at the Boise State University Human Rights Week.  It was inspired by a story I read soon after arriving in Idaho about the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the organization that fought the Aryan Nations in Idaho for decades and defeated them in a $6.3 million lawsuit.  We hear the term “grassroots” and “grassroots efforts” frequently these days. The term refers to community members banding together to create political change in the face of some sort of injustice. This piece is dedicated to all of those who volunteer hundreds or even thousands of hours to create change in these “grassroots efforts”.

 

Difficulty level: Difficult/professional