Waves of Voices (2025)

Ensemble: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra ([2 (2=Picc.), 2 (2=E.H.), 2 (2= Bass. Cl.), 2(2 dbl. Contra)], [4, 2 (2 dbl. flugelhorn), 2 (2=Bs. Tbn), 1], Timp., 2 Percussion, Harp, Pno., Strings)

Duration: 22 minutes

Program Notes:

“Waves of Voices” is cast in three movements. It is a piece dedicated to the legacy of Adam W. Sadberry’s grandfather L. Alex Wilson – a National Hall of Fame journalist and unsung hero of the Civil Rights Movement. His fearless reporting contributed to landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. The concerto is a testament to the action of confronting what seems like the impossible, the range of experiences that come with standing up for what is right, and a celebration of strength, perseverance, and justice.

Invocation is a kind of prelude, stirring and moving, that pays tribute to the strength we draw from those who have come before us and who fearlessly trod the paths we now walk.

”… and sing…” bears the weight of the concerto. It is the movement that concerns itself with how it may feel to come face to face with immense and immovable objects. The music is slow, expansive, soulful, and at times dirge-like, melancholic, and intense.

Echoes is a mostly celebratory, dance-like movement. It imagines what happens when echoes of the past resound into the future, recalling and reimagining materials from the other movements.