The Corner of 100th and Michigan Avenue (2010)

PROGRAM NOTE
In 2009, I began sketches for a multi movement piece for wind ensemble based on the old 100th or doxology. The plan was to write each movement as a stand alone work, but also part of a larger collection. The piece got put aside to work on other things, but after attending the 2009 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, I felt inspired to complete the work, or at least the first movement of the piece. This is where the title “The Corner of 100th and Michigan Avenue” was born. The concluding moment of the clinic for me was watching the Eastman Winds perform Maslanka’s 4th Symphony for wind ensemble. This powerful work is also based on the old 100th. It reminded me of what I had started and inspired me to return to the piece.
Overall “The Corner of 100th and Michigan Avenue” is spirited and upbeat. Using fragments of the hymn as well as complete statements of the chorale, several different moods are established during the course of the 5 minutes, hopefully leaving the listener with a sense of diversity of Chicago, as well as the non stop nature of the town in general.
~Craig Andrew Fitzpatrick
2010