“Solitary Meditations” Solo for Unaccompanied Tuba

Performer: Ben Poirot Composer: Jose Flores Location: Northwestern Bienen School of Music "Solitary Meditations" was coincidentally written late December 2019 just before the 2020 COVID Pandemic. The title seemed fitting for the time because of a lonely holiday season due to travel complications. The piece begins with a smooth melodic meditation that is harmonically tense. There are instances of soft "whispers" followed by periods of silence that represent the quietness of a room after a deep thought. The second meditation is anxious, heart pounding and relentless until the final transition into the third meditation, which represents mental exhaustion. The third meditation is an overwhelming epiphany. Whether it is positive or negative is to be decided by the performer and listener.