Grossman Ensemble premieres David Eckardt's "Cycles"
Program notes:
So much of our lives, perhaps all, are part of cycles. The recurrence of events or the restarting of processes have much to do with our making sense of the world and navigating within it. Personal and professional schedules, seasons, and lifespans enable us to predict, plan, and thrive as well as, in some cases, come to terms with that which is beyond our control. In the natural world, for example, life depends on death: decaying plants provide nutrients to those that will germinate and grow in another cycle. To my knowledge, the only life that can continue indefinitely is cancerous tissue. PROGRAM NOTES & BIOGRAPHIES May 2023 | 7 While the cycles in my composition are often obscured by perpetual variations, evolutions, and overlaps of the material, the sense of return they provide marks the initiation of new cycles, never exhausting their potential to create more and suggesting their continuation beyond the work’s conclusion. I am extremely grateful to Tim Weiss and the Grossman Ensemble for their generous collaboration on my piece; Phil Pierick, Lara Madden, and Ryan Garvey for their invaluable support throughout the process; and Gusty Thomas for her commitment to a visionary new way of creating music.
Jason Eckardt's piece Cycles premiered with the Grossman Ensemble on May 19, 2023.