Sunrise (2025)

Sunrise is a piece I started working on over the summer of 2024, but it wasn’t until after Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina that it truly began to take shape. The hurricane launched Appalachian State University into an unexpected two-week long break and the town of Boone was quiet by the 11 pm curfew. The destructive flooding our town saw was heartbreaking.

Despite the pain, people all around Western North Carolina came together to help those in need and offer support in any way they could. I finished writing Sunrise a few months after the hurricane, as we continued to rebuild WNC. 

In the first section, titled Sunset, the piccolo and flutes carry beautiful harmonic melodies while the lower flutes play a simple counterpoint line. There is a short pause between the two sections, then it moves straight into the second section, Sunrise, which starts with a canon that passes on while a soaring piccolo melody simulates birds calling at the stroke of dawn. The shorter section ends with a soaring line that fades into softness as the sun finishes rising. 

This work is dedicated to the wonderful Appalachian Flute Ensemble at Appalachian State University, under the teachings of Dr. Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham.