Water Magic: music for flute & electronics
exploring unpredictabilty & reconnection

Music of Sean William Calhoun, Alex Shapiro, & Chloe Upshaw, with special guest Alex Barbato, flute

This is by invite and for a small audience.

PROGRAM:
Escapade in Blue and Gold by Sean William Calhoun (two flutes & electronics, soft premiere)

In Spring 2025, NASA is planning a launch with two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. ESCAPADE is the first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to the Red Planet.

• Its twin orbiters will take simultaneous observations from different locations around Mars.

• The observations will reveal the planet’s real-time response to space weather and how the Martian magnetosphere changes over time.

ESCAPADE will analyze how Mars’ magnetic field guides particle flows around the planet, how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through the magnetosphere, and what processes control the flow of energy and matter into and out of the Martian atmosphere.

Sean William Calhoun’s Escapade in Blue and Gold is inspired by the ESCAPADE (ESCApe and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers).

The Forest by Chloe Upshaw (flute & electronics)
If you could amplify the voice of the forest, what would it say? (With audio samples collected from the WV Botanical Gardens.) - Chloe Upshaw

Water Magic by Alex Shapiro (two flutes & electronics, soft premiere).
Water Magic began life for a soloist, in a piece called Water Crossing commissioned by clarinetist F. Gerrard Errante. When Gerry told me of his friendship with clarinetist D. Gause and their duet recitals together, it seemed natural to create a second part. Years later, flutist Laura Lentz thought it would be a beautiful duet for flutes, and I entirely agree.
Years ago Gerry told me of his canoe, tied up at the dock by his house on the Virginia coastline. The thought of it waitng there for me made me imagine a wondrous journey, beginning in still, lake-like waters. During this mythical voyage, the canoe gradually morphs into a sailboat entering the open ocean, with dolphins dancing ahead of the bow. With this new version of the music, there are now two happy adventurers in the canoe. -Alex Shapiro

Duality Keys by Sean William Calhoun (alto flute & electronics, in preparation for performance at NFA Convention this August in Atlanta).
Duality Keys is inspired by wave/particle duality and explores quantum mechanics.