Wilted leaves by Nigel Deane

This piece is the first creative solo project I've finished since my dad passed away in October 2021, and is partially about my still-deepening connection to him. The use of the sounds of the mourning dove as a motif was initially inspired by his piece Mourning Dove Sonnet for solo vibraphone.

Ubiquitous as it is, the mourning dove song started to capture my closer attention whenever I heard it after I had begun working on this piece. I came to appreciate that I didn't necessarily find its melody to be mournful. Likewise, I don't consider this piece to be about grief. Grief was an element of my life while working on the piece, but for me, there's an equal part celebration of life and community, which I felt so strongly in the live performance of the piece at Automata, surrounded by friends that I love, and strangers with whom I had beautiful and vulnerable conversations after the piece ended.