Surging Home

Surging Home centers around an intuitive decision to take the direction of my life into my own hands by directing all of my energy towards returning to my hometown after several years away. The work is bombastic and energetic, while simultaneously reflective and offers little in the realm of resolution. The final stanza from William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus sums up my motivations for the piece:

“It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.”

This piece was commissioned by a consortium of ensembles led by the Nicholls State University Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Jason Ladd, Director of Bands.

Members of the consortium:

Clemson University – Timothy Hurlburt, Assistant Director of Bands

Syracuse University – Dr. Bradley Ethington, Director of University Bands

The University of California Berkeley – Dr. Matthew Sadowski, Director of Bands

H.L. Bourgeois Symphonic Winds – Director Tyler Wiggins

Thibodaux High School – Brian Dupuis, Director of Bands