CONCERT MUSIC CREDITS
Scroll down for more about my compositions.
THE WHITNEY RENO CURE
Commissioned by Reno Modern Brass. Composed by April Dawn Guthrie with support from the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. This work is the third commission for the larger suite Our Founding Foremothers which is a suite and collection of works in celebration of women who shaped American history. Written for brass quintet – 2 trumpets, French horn, trombone, bass trombone – 7-9 minutes in duration. Inspiration for this piece came from women who owned and operated the divorce ranches that flourished in Reno, Nevada during the mid-1900s. Specifically The Whitney Ranch, which was owned and run by the Whitney family consisting of a widow and her two daughters. Women would arrive by train, the dusty blue sage of the desert at their feet, preparing mentally for six weeks on a ranch to finalize their divorce. We hear the tumult of their minds, full of conflicting emotions of fear, anger, sadness, and an impending freedom. It was is in the expansive blue skies of Nevada that these women gained a sense of strength and purpose, finding themselves capable of changing their own story. Performed by Reno Modern Brass: Jef Derderian - trumpet, Brandon Sherman - trumpet, Kevin Miescke - horn, Paul Fleming - trombone, Andrew Williams - bass trombone.
I BECOME THE BUFFALO
Commissioned by the 15th Annual Dogstar Orchestra Festival. This four movement work (I. The Relocation, II. Occupation, III. Buffalo Returns, IV. The Chief) is the second commission for the larger suite Our Founding Foremothers. It is scored for string trio – violin, viola, cello – and percussion. 10-12 minutes in duration. Written in dedication to Wilma Mankiller, Cherokee Nation Chief during the 1980s. It follows and imagines her life before she became Cherokee Nation Chief in 1985. The percussionist leads and is continually accompanied by the string trio as we hear of her family’s government enforced relocation to San Francisco. We then follow her as she is actively engaged in the Civil Rights movement and the American Indian occupation of Alcatrez. The 3rd movement shows Mankiller’s move home to Oklahoma to reclaim her family land. The percussionist leads us into the 4th movement with their final ‘change cycle,’ and we hear Mankiller become the Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
GRAND BITCHES OF THE TETONS
Commissioned by The Wyoming Music Festival 2018. Composed for The Wyoming Music Festival with support from the Equipoise Fund. This work is the 1st commission for the larger suite Our Founding Foremothers. It is scored for string trio – violin, viola, cello. 8 minutes in duration. Nearly 95 years have passed since women first summited the Tetons, and from these women's histories I found inspiration for Grand Bitches of the Tetons. We see these women, and many women after, summit the Tetons. We see their shadows ahead of us and beside us, continuing to help carve a path of equality and strength even long after their passing. Women who woke early to reach the summit alone, thus ensuring they would be believed that they summited on their own. Women who shaped the history of Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons. In this string trio we hear the voices of these women first in a solo cello melody, while the violin and viola reveal the landscape in all of its hills and valleys, hardness and support. The violin and viola then take over in a trek together, a melody of their own, while the cello divulges more stories from the dirt. We end as we have begun, amidst the enduring shadows of the women of our histories. Eleanor Davis, Geraldine Lucas, Irene Ayres, Elizabeth Cowles, Margaret Smith Craighead, Margaret Bedell, Ann Sharples, Mary Whittemore - I thank you for your inspiration and fearlessness. Performed by Emily Call - violin, Elizabeth Lauren Baba - viola, April Dawn Guthrie - cello
WAGON BURNING SAVAGE
In four movements for violin, oud, drums, cello, & voice (I. 11.4.11, II. Ayotzinapa 43, III. COunt Your Blessings, IV. Angel y Diana). Wagon Burning Savage is a composition dedicated to and inspired by the ongoing social unrest and action in Mexico and the United States. Each movement is a reflection of events in either Mexico or the United States. Movement one “11.4.11” was influenced by two separate mass killings in two weeks that included 11 beheadings of drug cartel members by drug cartel members in Mexico 2014. The second movement contains 43 smaller pieces, each of which is a remembrance of each of the Ayotzinapa students that went missing in September 2014. Performed by Eric KM Clark - violin, Dimitris Mahlis - oud, Jose Gurria - drums, April Dawn Guthrie - cello, voice
3 STAMPS
In 5 movements for cello, voice, drums, playback. 10 minutes in duration. I. The 3pm Sale, II. The Handle of 5, III. The 6am Sale, IV. 75 States of Wheat, V. The 4pm Sale. Performance: Auction Recording - Kansas City, Missouri. Drumset - Jose Gurria, Voice, Cello - April Dawn Guthrie.
CREATURE OF ANOTHER WORLD
In process to create music video for LGBTQ teen suicide prevention. Written in collaboration with librettist Jennifer Maisel. This work was written for lyric baritone Andrew Diego, string trio, electronics, & chime as a commission during the 2016 Nautilus Music-Theater Studio Workshop. 7 minutes in duration. The song tells the story of a young man who has just committed suicide and is watching over his own funeral, assuming that he wasn't understood. By the end, he sees that his father did understand him and loved him.