Betsey Biggs

For flute, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, percussion, piano, violin, and cello; premiered by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble across Badlands, Wind Cave, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks in July 2016; also performed as part of New Music Detroit’s annual music marathon, Strange Beautiful Music IX. 7 minutes, 34 seconds.

Link to album

See score as PDF (right or control-click to download)

Teewinot (pronounced TEE-win-aht) is a mountain set within Grand Teton National Park, a landscape formed by earthquakes, glaciers, and creatures. Teewinot, the piece of music, is a musical ecology of sorts, a bundle of musical possibilities set within a larger structure of events. You might think of it as a sonic time lapse of the history of this land.

Teewinot was commissioned by the acclaimed Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, in celebration of the 100th birthday of the National Park System. With a funding award from the National Endowment for the Arts, eight composers including myself, Rob Deemer, Alexandra Gardner, Patrick Harlin, Jeff Herriott, Molly Joyce, Phil Kline and Paula Matthusen, were asked to create music to be performed within the parks. The music reflects the immense diversity of the parks while capturing their breathtaking and inspiring landscapes and wildlife. You can find out more about the project here and watch a short video trailer here.

RECORDING

2020, Dawn Chorus (Betsey Biggs, "Teewinot") released by the GVSU New Music Ensemble: Innova Records.

REVIEWS

2020 Steve Smith, “GVSU New Music Ensemble: “Dawn Chorus,” The New Yorker, May 1, 2020.

2020 Ted Gioia, The One Hundred Best Albums of 2020. The Honest Broker, December 1, 2020.

2020 John Schaefer, "New Releases, March 2020," New Sounds, New York, NY: WNYC, March 31, 2020.

2020 Joshua Kosman, “Music inspired by America’s national parks, and other new recordings,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2020.

PERFORMANCES

2016: Strange Beautiful Music IX music marathon, Wasserman Projects, Detroit, MI, USA.

2016: Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA.

2016: Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, USA.

2016: Billings Public Library, Billings, Montana, USA.

2016: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.

2016: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA.

PRESS

2016 “Inspiration from the National Parks System,” Performance Today (NPR), August 19, 2016.