Have you considered what Charlotte could sound like if it were a piece of classical music?
A local reed quintet posed that question to six local composers — specifically “What does home sound like to you?” The result is a concert called “Homegrown Melodies” that translates our city and state into chamber music.
One composer found inspiration in driving to and from the city with her mother. Another was drawn to the tension between preserving nature and the need for development.
In one playful suite, a composer imagines popular beers from Free Range Brewing, Legion Brewing, Triple C Brewing and Birdsong Brewing as individual movements.
Teil Taliesin plays the oboe and English horn in the Burnt Reeds quintet, which is performing this music in concert this week and next.
She spoke with WFAE's Nick de la Canal about some of the pieces in the concert, and what the audience will take away.
The final performances of the Burnt Reeds quintet's "Homegrown Melodies" will take place at the following times and locations:
- Friday, Aug. 23, 12:30 p.m. — Independence Regional Library
- Saturday, Aug. 24, 2 p.m. — Berewick Recreation Center
- Sunday, Aug. 25, 2 p.m. — Ivory Baker Recreation Center
- Tuesday, Aug. 27, 7 p.m. — Birdsong Brewing Co.
Listen to their conversation here:
Nick de la Canal: Teil Taliesin plays the oboe and English horn in the Burnt Reed's quintet, which is performing this music in concert this week and next. We sat down to talk about the program. The concert begins with a piece called "The Drive There and Back." Tell us more about this work, how it begins and where it goes.
Teil Taliesin: Yeah, this piece is by Madison Bush. She is a younger composer, a violinist. And when we asked her to write about home, she thought about how she would drive to and from Charlotte with her mom and the warmth and nostalgia that brings to her. For a piece about driving in Charlotte. It definitely doesn't have the anxiety that I sometimes feel. Feel that that familial bond that she's written in the music. There's sometimes to feel like quasi-jazz. It doesn't feel as strictly classical, and you can tell that she really had fun playing with the different tambours of our instruments.
De la Canal: I can almost like feel the anticipation, like I can picture myself driving on I-85 just as the Charlotte skyline appears on the horizon.
Taliesin: Absolutely. And then there's like a point where the oboe comes in with this persistent pecking sound. And it definitely reminds me of turning on my turn signals.
De la Canal: Another work you guys perform is titled "From the Mountains to the Sea," a musical journey across North Carolina, and it opens with this movement called "Blue Ridge Splendor." Talk us through this work.
Taliesin: They were immediately inspired to write not about how they feel about North Carolina, but about how North Carolina feels about the people that are in it. To me, it almost feels like we're going on an adventure. It feels bold, warm, exciting. And then it ends in a chorale where it just feels like, oh, we finally reached home.
De la Canal: There's also a piece called "Land of the Sky." It starts with the sound of a bird. And then we hear, I guess, an approaching train. What's going on in this piece?
Taliesin: "Land of the Sky" was composed by Dr. Jessica Lindsay. In this piece, it feels like the train is the symbol of progress, and there's the juxtaposition between the train barreling down towards you and. the Carolina wren, the symbol of nature. It's almost about the price that we pay for progress.
De la Canal: OK, I really want to ask about this piece called "One for Me, One for You." This piece includes four movements that are each about a local Charlotte brewery. The first is Free Range Brewing. Let's take a listen. OK, it is kind of calming and I guess it's just like sipping a cool beer.
Taliesin: Absolutely. This piece by Dr. Zach Zubow. He was really inspired to go into the flavor profile and really be inspired by that and the type of music he wrote.
De la Canal: Yeah, and the work goes on to this movement, which is Juicy Jay from Triple C Brewing. It's a very popular brew here in Charlotte. And you know, it's a little hoppy, like an IPA.
Taliesin: Yes, this one. He wrote a lot of texture into it because he was inspired by the type of beer and really wanted it to jump at you the way that the flavor jumps at you in such a. A calm, refreshing way.
De la Canal: He also writes about the Up All Night Breakfast Porter by Triple C Brewing. You know, it sounds sweet and mellow. Teil, what do you hope that audiences will take away from these works and from your concert?
Taliesin: We just want people to dream big and celebrate where they're from and celebrate what home means to them. Each of these pieces takes the idea of home in a very different way. And they're all correct. We just want people to enjoy being a Charlottean, or enjoy music,or enjoy their own artistry.
