Composer Notes:

Up until my junior year of college at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, my favorite times of the year were summer, fall and winter (up until Christmas was over). Never did I appreciate the beauty of what spring had to offer. When in high school, I viewed spring as something standing in the way of summer. I also viewed it as a grey and depressing time of year. It was not until college, when I had to walk to class every day, that appreciated the four seasons fully.

For anyone who has visited Wisconsin in the middle of winter, they know of the bone chilling days we experience here. In fact, there was one day in college, that the town of Eau Claire was actually colder than the North Pole and yet we STILL had classes, but I digress. Anyways, after experiencing a large amount of cold days in a row, you truly appeciate when signs of life begin to appear. Little things such as hearing the birds singing, grass hoppers chirping and seeing flowers blooming again really melts the heart and spirit from the cold of winter. If I could compare the energy and life that spring has to a human emotion, it would be love.

When I was asked to write a piece for my dear friend Marissa Satern's wedding, I struggled greatly. I began writting a piece that felt deeply spiritual and solum; however, was not speaking to me fully. Weeks and months quickly passed and before I knew it, the deadline for the piece was right around the corner. Around this time, hints of spring were begining to appear. As spring appeared, I quickly realized that the composition I was writing was neither emblamatic of how a wedding should feel nor the light hearted personality of my friend, Marissa. So, reluctantly, I went back to the drawing board. Before I knew it, I began having vivid memories and feelings of the thawing  Chippewa River, which ran directly through the campus of UW- Eau Claire, after winter. I remembered walking across the foot bridge, feeling the warm energy of the sun on my face, feeling the wind swirl around me, smelling the new flowers blooming and seeing the sun's reflection lightly dance upon the rapids of the river. With these thoughts came this new compsition in the matter of three days.

I never enjoy writing a piece that feels forced. Often times, when I live with a text long enough, the music reveals itself in a way that feels ogranic and natural, almost as if it was always meant to be. I imagine love to be very similar. Initcially it may feel very forced, but when you find the right person, I bet it is similar to seeing light dance on a river or feeling the warm sun on your face after a cold winter. I imagine it must feel like the greatest song ever written and that it always was meant to be.

- Zachary J. Moore