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A New Child in an Old Placescore & parts for: string quartet, piano, bass & drums
The inspiration behind this piece came from the time I have spent in New Orleans. I have observed that there is a new generation of children living in New Orleans that either were born after or were simply too young to remember experiencing hurricane Katrina. These children are happy and enjoying life in a place that underwent catastrophic difficulties. As a composer, I'm trying meld together two distinctly different reactions/interpretations of the same situation; one from the point of view of the children, in their infancy, wholly devoted to having fun - the other is that of the adult, who is trying to pick up the pieces of a catastrophic event and return to a normal, productive life. New generations of people have been sprouting forth for thousands of years on this planet and every single time, we enter this life as children, completely unaware of the dangers and challenges that inevitably form our identity and character throughout our lives. -fabian almazan