i. weaving
ii. breathing
iii. being and being and being

Instrumentation

Juliana - Vibraphone, Electronics
Jules - Marimba
Caro - Timpani

Duration

8 minutes

Program Notes

I sometimes wonder why we make music. The question is often answered in terms of the music itself: because it’s beautiful, because it expresses some deep truth, because it might mean something. So we write the music that pursues these goals then get together because we have some music to play. But lately, I’ve been thinking about it the other way: maybe the getting together is as important as the music. The music is the centerpiece around which we gather, but maybe the centerpiece isn’t what’s essential, maybe it’s the gathering itself.

I’ve known Juliana, Jules, and Caro for almost four years. We met playing music together and have shared some incredible performances. Yet, as time has gone on and these musical peers have become dear friends, it’s become clear that the music was always secondary; it was the relationships that were essential. Not the thread, but the fabric; not the tea, but the warmth.

tgthr (pronounced as either of the etymological siblings “together” or “to gather”) came out of these realizations; it is both an expression of them and a practice of them. By this, I mean that the essence of the piece is as much the sounds we’re about to hear as it is the fact that we’re all together to hear them. It’s as much the notes these three will play as it is the planes we boarded to get to Indiana and the group text in which we planned those flights and the Trader Joe’s Italian Dry Salame we shared and the joy in the fact that we get to see each other for the first time in months. tgthr is the celebration of the gathering and the gathering itself—it’s the celebration of the friendships and the friendships themselves.

Thank you for being a part of it.