HERD (2025)

For double-bell bass trombone and field recordings of Red Deer.
Commissioned by Benjamin Anderson. Premiere TBC.
Full duration: 16 minutes.

HERD is about becoming multiple in solo performance.

The double-bell bass trombonist is revealed to be a spectral creature, navigating unstable terrain between dualisms on the instrument (the two bells, the triggers, and split tones in the embouchure). Arriving repeatedly at points of rupture, the performer multiplies until they subsumed into the Herd at the coming of the night.

The work begins in darkness. Custom lighting design gradually multiplies the performer’s shadow throughout.

Score excerpt below.

This piece grew from a period of fieldwork in Aulus les Bains and the surrounding area in the French Pyrenees. Many thanks to the crew at CAMP, and to Chris Watson for his mentorship on this residency.