For brass quintet. Duration - 5 minutes.
West Ridge is one of Chicago’s seventy-seven official “community areas” – “neighborhoods” to you or me. Bounded on all sides by various streets and avenues, it might seem a little arbitrary to call one side of a line this community, the other side that. Each neighborhood has its own character and charm, however, and Chicago residents love and fiercely defend their neighborhoods and neighbors. West Ridge is no exception, and is a place where people from around the world come together to live and thrive – where a quick trip down Devon Avenue reveals restaurants and shops from every conceivable country and culture. (Full disclosure, the composer actually lives just across the border to the east in Rogers Park.)
West Ridge is also the site of a historical line – Indian Boundary Park marks the 1816 treaty line dividing the area between the Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi to the north and the United States to the south. Boundary lines can divide people into “us and them.”
This piece reflects how boundaries can and should be inclusive rather than exclusive. The music uses very limited materials – two chords, a fragment of melody and an occasional drone – to create colorful and varied textures, just like people coming together in a community.
Commissioned by Gaudete Brass Quintet.