The Nighthawk of Golden Bell - for String Orchestra

The Nighthawk of Golden Bell was commissioned for the 30th anniversary of Camp Con Brio (formerly the Colorado ASTA String Camp), which the composer founded in 1995. The camp is currently held every summer at nearly 10,000 feet elevation at the Golden Bell Camp above the town of Divide, Colorado. The work is programmatic, bringing to life a poem about the quest of a young camper who must decide between the security of the familiar and the uncertainty of the unknown. The poem is an allegory for the choices we make in life. A short introduction (including a disguised quote from Stravinski's Firebird) is followed by an exciting quest including wolf howls and bird screeches. At a mountain summit, the child receives council from a mythical bird before continuing the journey.