On the heels of 2022’s Rise: Music in a Time of Uncertainty comes a new collection of works by composer David Colson, called Conversing With Spirits. In an interview with Cara Lieurance, Colson tells the stories behind the new works.
Two of the newest works were composed during the Covid-19 shutdown, and both feature saxophonist Henning Schroeder, a Western Michigan University faculty colleague. Un raz-de-marée de terreur et de joie (A tidal wave of terror and of joy) is a duo for baritone saxophone and marimba, played by Schroeder and Matthew Coley. Colson says he asks the performers to change character again and again, something their virtuosity allows them to do. Another new work, 2021's "Cat Tales," pays homage to eight cats he's met and known in his life, such as Bill Bolcom's feral companion Bother. They're brought to life by Henning Schoeder on soprano sax, Joseph Luloff on alto, and Yu-Lien The on piano.
The son of a professional trumpet player, Colson says he has a great affinity for the instrument as well as his trumpet-playing WMU colleague Scott Thornburg, the first chair trumpet of the Kalamazoo Symphony. One of the 4 movements of the "Duo for Trumpet and Piano" is "Butterfly Nebula," which inspired the cover art of the new album.
