"Andromeda," for clarinet and looper, draws inspiration from my family's migration from Eastern Europe to the New World.  My grandparents left their villages and small towns in Eastern Europe over 100 years ago to flee oppression and to find new beginnings and resolve in the United States.  They told me stories of not only how difficult it is was to travel such a vast distance at that time, especially when fleeing oppression, but also how the new world of the United States looked like a completely different universe to them.  They understood nothing, not the language nor the customs, it was akin to an entirely new galaxy that they had to learn to navigate.  Their story ultimately is one of transforming oppression and injustice into health and prosperity.  The music flows with repeated melodies, layering melodic lines over a backdrop of linear motion while using the solo clarinet to guide the listener through the process of transformation and resolve.

-MM