Brightwork returns to T@MS for a program featuring Alexandra Gardner’s highly lyrical music and provocative Migrations, a piece that explores the nonrandom movement of an atom or radical from one place to another within a molecule. And birds.

An interview with Alexandra Gardner

Can you tell us about your piece “Migrations,” and what initially sparked your interest in the concept?
Migrations was originally composed for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. I often like the concept for a piece to have multiple layers of meaning, so in this case I was interested in the idea of migrating birds, as well as in the idea of migration in the molecular sense. Just to dispel the myth that composing is a romantic activity, I can tell you that I finished copying the score and parts for this piece in the laundry room of a hotel in Aspen Colorado, in the middle of the night. Very unromantic, but a good story!

How do you apply the concept of migrations musically within the piece?
There is a lot of small step-wise movement in the instrumental parts overall, but in the larger structure of the piece, the “big moment” is when all of the music takes a dramatic shift. One whole step up!

What are your general sources of inspiration when writing music?
Many things, but particularly mythology, literature and my training as a percussionist.

As a successful female composer in a male-dominated field, what has your experience been like? Do you have any advice for other women composers?
I can safely say that I have been extremely fortunate, in that my primary mentors have always been female, so I have not experienced some of the difficulties that my colleagues have. However, there are always challenges that arise, and I expect there will continue to be for a long time to come, although things are improving for sure. My advice for other women composers would be that while under no circumstances should one try to “be musically like the boys” if that is not of interest, it is helpful to put oneself in the same places where the boys are, as much as possible. Make sure you are seen and heard as a peer by being present and accounted for. It’s not easy, but then being a composer is never easy!