The title for the alto sax concertpiece is “Poem for the American Southwest,” and will explore what it’s like living in the Sonoran Desert. Experience a monsoon rain, a dust storm; hiking amidst cacti and desert wildlife; explore the desert highlands; see the stars at night; and drive down a rural highway. I wrote a poem on which the piece will be based:
the slow arc of the sun
mercury ever rising, rising
above purple mountain skyscrapers
the heat shimmers,
a mirage on the desert floor,
the saguaro stand defiantly
a rural dirt highway
through a ghost town’s ruins
what once was silver is now dust and brick
the monsoon erases
the old day’s haboob,
floods of dirty water bring the desert life
in the highlands now
the sun sets the once piercing blue sky ablaze
soon the Sonoran will come to life
a billion stars shine in the twilight
it is the time of the coyote, the javelina,
underneath the Milky Way
Jason Taurins 