Year composed: 2025
Duration: 9′
Instrumentation: cello and piano
Commissioned by the No Exit Ensemble for The Collective
Premiered in June 2025 at the American College of Greece, Athens, the Morlacci Conservatory in Perugia, Italy, the Akademii Muzycznej in Warsaw, Poland, and the Vondelkerk in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Notes:
In summer 2024 I spent a week camping by myself at Lake Chabot—fasting, meditating, reading, and working on this piece. The sounds of the birds (especially the plaintive call of the mourning dove) and the wind in the trees stayed with me. Using these natural sounds, I composed an extensive catalogue of short sonic gestures that I could alter in many ways, and I decided to call the piece Chabot Reservoir.
I love the cello; it’s my favorite instrument and I played it as a kid through my early years at college. This piece is dedicated to one of my favorite cellists, Leighton Fong.
–Cindy Cox
background: Lake Chabot, summer 2024