My friend Hayley Young was moved by a piece I wrote recently – one of the more hopeful works from the Musical Journal I was commissioned to create in response to the pandemic. It’s a piece that came to me during a big road trip through the Western United States, and I immediately felt compelled to send this music to people that I thought might need a moment of hope. That’s a little unusual for me; I’m often self-conscious about what I write and hesitant to share. In this instance, though, I felt that the music that I created was something I very much needed to not only write, but to hear – and that others might have that same need.

Hayley immediately called me after listening to it with the idea to bring producer Ryan Hadlock on board, go to his Recording Studio and not only record the piece, but document the process for a special project she’s working on. She brought Alex Crook to run cameras and along with Ryan’s engineer Taylor Carroll we spent three days setting up, recording, and mixing the track, capturing everything on video along the way.

The idea for a Widespread Orchestra began as a poem by Mighty Mike McGee. It begins “Today, I dance knowing / someone somewhere dances with me” and San Jose-based composer Noah Luna was inspired to write a piece where people could come together, despite their physical isolation. He began work on a composition for chorus and cello and partnered with Joshua Roman as part of his Fermata residency, here at Town Hall to produce the project.

In October, dozens of singers sent us their voices (and some even sent videos) to bring to life Noah’s vision, alongside Town Hall’s very own Joshua Roman on the cello.

Watch the final product below!