For 6 trumpets

(1 Eb trumpet and 5 Bb trumpets)

7’ 00”

Contact me at wgm4music@gmail.com to access score and audio

Program Notes

In addition to being a composer I am also a trumpet player. During my first year and a half at Towson University I took trumpet lessons with Dr. Luis Engelke and participated in the trumpet studio. At one point, Dr. Engelke and Professor Virginia Turner had suggested that I write a piece for the studio to play, an opportunity that I was excited about given both my history with the instrument and my enjoyment playing in trumpet ensembles in high school and college. I wrote the piece during the summer break of 2023, and brought it to the studio which performed it that fall.

This piece represents one of my interests growing up: outer space. Throughout human history we have looked up to the stars, wondering what lies out there in the cosmos. The title “What Lies Between Stars” comes from a thought I had: despite us looking to the stars, the mysteries we wonder about and research are all positioned in the darkness between them. Thus, I wrote the piece to convey the mystery of our cosmos as well as the brilliance and wonder of space and our endeavors to explore it. The piece begins in near silence with blown air coming from the trumpets. The second trumpet enters with the first sounding notes which is followed up by the melody in the first trumpet. This melody continues to develop over the course of the piece which goes from a mysterious feeling to one of excitement and energy.