Trench Coat

Trench Coat was conceived to be – in short – a fun piece of music to listen to. It is essentially a musical mystery, as the title might suggest, exploring two themes that are both trying to find the suspect and solve the “crime”. The first theme presents itself in a sneaky fashion, quietly lurking and searching. The second theme is chase music, where we feel we are definitely on to something, if we can only catch up to it. Ultimately, the two themes come together to try to work together to solve the case. But do they?

I am very grateful to Peter Haberman and the Concordia Band of Moorhead, MN, for inviting me to create this work. It was commissioned as part of a weekend where I myself would be conducting the premiere, and working with he your musicians. That is what inspired me to write something fun, as that is ultimately what music should be.

Jim Stephenson, January 31, 2018