HOMMAGE JFK

Written during the summer of 1995, Hommage JFK is a fanfare for four trumpets, four horns, four trombones, two tubas and three percussion. It was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In the writing of the fanfare, I chose to concentrate on the man for whom the building was dedicated, John F. Kennedy. Since I was only nine when he was elected president, Kennedy became the first political leader to make an impression on me. What I remember most was his humor, smile and vitality, and the fact that these were taken away from us so suddenly. Hommage JFK reflects these two elements: vitality and sudden loss.