Brooklyn native Kelijah Dunton (b. 1999) began serious music study in high school as an alto saxophonist, and he continues to play with the ensembles of the Metropolitan Music Community. He is a self-taught composer who has been shaped by the diversity of the neighborhoods he has lived in (Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Crown Heights) and his memorable experiences in his high school band. See more at his website.
Dunton wrote Stillwater in 2019. After its premiere that fall by the Brooklyn Wind Symphony, it quickly became his first published piece (through Murphy Music Press). It was also his first piece to be performed virtually – see this performance on Facebook by the Socially Distanced Orchestra. His program notes (from his website) speak to the source of his creative energy:
Inspired by the beauty of a small town, Stillwater Minnesota. This town has a big lake in its center, and out of everyone’s backyard it could be seen. During the winter, the very top of the lake freezes and creates this tranquil effect that could not be seen, but heard. When stepping out into your backyard, you’d see this frozen mass, stuck into place and completely unmovable, but if you listened closely, you could hear that the water underneath continued to flow.
Why is this important?
We as people forget sometimes that we are so much more deep and vast beneath our hard surfaces. We work, we go to school, we take care of our families, we deal with the struggles of the day-to-day routine militantly. But if we just take a moment to listen within ourselves; we discover our passions, our longings, and our sense of belongings.
Hear the premiere performance, led by Kimberly Roof:
See more about the piece at Murphy Music Press (which includes a preview of the score) and the Wind Repertory Project. For a look at the Minnesota winter that inspired the piece, check out this story on Minnesota Public Radio.