In March 2016, I attended a rehearsal featuring students from the United Sound mentoring program ? a program to encourage musicians with special needs to play side by side with general education musicians in the same ensemble. The empathy I experienced in that room was overwhelming. I cried, regained my composure, and asked if I could write a piece for United Sound. The result is "Snarl." Everyone gets picked on at some point ? I know I did, especially in gym class. It's a horrible feeling. "Snarl" refuses to be bullied, from the opening saxophone section multiphonic, to the flutter-tongued winds and the crashes of cymbals. "Snarl" is a gift to United Sound in thanks for making those mentored students feel not only special, but strong."
