The Ascent Into Light was written as an elegy for John S. Waddell, a friend and former teacher who died in 2002 from lymphoma. It exists in two parts: Departure and Arrival.

Technical Notes:

The Ascent Into Light incorporates analog, analog modeling and in part 2 , sampled instruments which are related to both processed electronic sound and a that of a choir which was built entirely from a single sample taken of John's daughter, Linden Waddell, singing a middle C .

Postscript:

John Waddell introduced me to electronic music in 1974. This not only proved instrumental in forming my musical aesthetic, but to my acceptance to CalArts as well. For most of us, recollecting our teachers from that period, highschool, may spark memories but little else. John Waddell is an exceptioon to this which was shared by legions of others. At his memorial service the one common denominator from the many ex-students who spoke was 'he changed my life".

Many years later and shortly after my return to music in 2001 I had John over for a peek at my equipment. Even in his illness I was sure he'd get a kick out of it...which he did, hammering out Bach's Prelude 1 from the Well-Tempered Clavier on my one of the keyboards during the course of the evening. At the close of the tour I asked him what he thought of the whole mess, his reply being typically upbeat and supportive - he said thought it was great and after a thoughtful pause and with a finger pointing upward to make his proclaimation clear he added "... and I predict that your music will be presented at CalArts". A very nice comment which was taken for what it was because at that time I had obsolutely no intentions of writing again, let alone earning a performance at such an acclaimed institution even if I had.

Months past, and as JW's illness progressed and his family and friends began to brace themselves for the inevitable outcome, I did in fact begin to write -- Electrolux being the first completed work from that effort. Feeling there was nothing to lose from the endeavour I submitted it to a rather large music festival in Spain, confident that at very best I would receive a 'thank you, but no thanks' note back. After a couple of months I did indeed hear from the organizers of the event - but not with the message I was expecting. Much to my surprise, Electrolux had been selected as the winner of this prestigious event. Who would have thunk it. Unbelievable.

This win at the Periòdic Festival in Barcelona opened a lot of performance opportunities over the following months, one of which being an invitation to present the work at the S.C.R.E.A.M. Festival at - you guessed it - CalArts. To make things even more interesting and with no intervention or control of any of the dates involved, the event was held on November 22, 2002...the very night of John Waddell's memorial service.

For information on the John S. Waddell Memorial Fund, click here