Program Note:

Climb is a journey and an elegy. There is darkness in the music, but it also glows and ascends. It is a piece about self-discovery.

​I thought a lot about Henry David Thoreau while working on this piece, and the music is dedicated to his memory. Besides his conservationism, Thoreau wrote extensively about the the process of waking up and discovering one's individuality. Thoreau’s life was changed at Walden Pond, and Thoreau encourages us to find our own Waldens. Writing music is my Walden.

Performances:

• Leon Botstein and The Orchestra Now, Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Annandale-On-Hudson, New York, April 23-24, 2016.