Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa

		On a summer night several years ago, an unsuspecting group of canyon tree frogs sang by a slickrock waterhole in Zion National Park in southern Utah. Little did they know that their voices would soon be heard on concert stages all across the world. And they certainly never expected to share the bill with chirping crickets, howling coyotes, and tuxedoed classical musicians. But hiding nearby was Utah composer Phillip Bimstein, who had placed a microphone and a digital recorder at the edge of the waterhole. He also recorded the sounds of coyotes, crickets, rocks, thunder, and the rushing waters of the Virgin River. Bimstein then shaped and arranged these natural sounds on his synthesizer keyboard. He orchestrated the sounds into a piece of music, and wrote an accompanying score for a live oboe. Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa was commissioned for Stephen Caplan by a grant from Meet The Composer's New Residencies. Stephen plays the oboe in this recording.
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Phillip would like to encourage you to make a donation to the Amphibian Ark while you listen to his music, and enjoy the beautiful images of frogs above. 100% of funds donated to Amphibian Ark will be spent on ensuring a long-term future for threatened amphibians, and donations to the Amphibian Ark are tax-deductible for most US tax-payers. Please click the Donate button to make a payment through PayPal.

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Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa is from Phillip's recently released Starkland CD, Phillip Bimstein: Larkin Gifford's Harmonica.

You can read more about the album here, or visit Amazon.com to purchase the album. Phillip Bimstein's MySpace page contains more information about the composer and his other works.