For the third year in a row, we’ve taken time out of our summer performing tour to write music at a “composing residency” in a rustic cabin in Colorado. This year we rented a cabin in the La Garita mountains just outside of the San Luis Valley. The cabin is a forty minute drive down a narrow rock studded dirt road at 10,000 feet in Carnero park. The cabin had all you could really want with a propane fueled fridge, stove, and lights. The water pump out back had some of the best tasting water we’ve had in a long time.
This year we showed up with a big composing challenge to write a concerto for flute and guitar. We planned for Carmen to write a dance movement and Andrew to write an introduction movement. After a week of composing, we realized that we needed a piece to go in the middle. With much coordination, we added a third co-composed slow movement for the concert. The three drafted pieces are ready for major revisions when we get home!
We enjoyed the beautiful La Garita mountains which are quite removed. We ended up seeing more wildlife than people! Halfway through our time there we also got the great pleasure of hosting our friends Kymber and Travis from Michigan who drove out to experience colorful Colorado. With them we got to climb mountains, sand dunes, soak in hot springs and cook and eat some amazing food.
We plan to premier the concerto this fall with a small ensemble of guitars, bassoon and flute at GRCC for the International Guitar Series.
