Tanglewood goes off the rails, 8.8.09

Across the street from my home is a subway station, the infamous Chicago El. From its platform, you can either board a train toward one of the world’s great urban centers, or toward one of the world’s busiest airports — and from there, fly to anywhere in the world. The modern possibilities of high-speed transportation set in motion the musical ideas I explore in Rapid Transit.

While the literal movements of trains, planes, and yet-to-be-invented forms of transportation propel much of the piece, I was most especially interested in the ability of passenger transit, like music, to unite otherwise disparate, silent, and anonymous strangers in a single direction toward a common destination.

Commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center, Rapid Transit premieres on August 8, 2009 at the Festival of Contemporary Music, conducted by Maestro Ryan McAdams.