Widening Gyre

February 16, 2010: Premiere of The Widening Gyre by Maria Luz Alvarez and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Scott Yoo. This work is the result of about ten days spent on the Canadian Coastguard icebreaker Amundsen in the Northwest Passage and the Beaufort Sea. I was in the company of scientists from all over the world involved in the University of Manitoba’s Circumpolar Flaw Lead Study examining the melting of the polar icecap. The Widening Gyre is comprised of three songs for soprano and strings: 1) Layers; 2) A Tangle of Stars; 3) Geological Consent. Funds for this project were provided by the University of Manitoba (for the boat ride) and the Canada Council for the Arts (for the creation of the work).