Through Hike for Solo Clarinet and Piano

My first compositional encounter with Appalachian Folk Ballads came in 2014. At the time, I was working on my Master’s Degree at West Chester University. The student composer organization at the School of Music organized a “speed writing” contest: participants were given 48 hours to take an assignment and produce a final, proofread and print-ready score. It was for this exercise that I composed the first movement of this suite, Chicken with No Stones. (As an aside, I’m happy to say that I won the speed writing contest) Fast-forward to 2017. During my Doctoral studies at the University of South Carolina, I had the pleasure of my path intersecting with composer and professor Dave Garner. During a class focused on principles of transcribing recorded performances, Dr. Garner introduced me to the vast body of Appalachian Folk Music. Listening to so many different ballads performed by so many different balladeers, I was infatuated. It was at this time that I composed the work that is now the