"Returning" is a chart that took an extremely circuitous route to its eventual premiere, but in a way that was uniquely appropriate for the piece itself. It was originally commissioned as a virtual chart during the pandemic as a part of several pieces that were conceived to be recorded remotely, but as the last piece that was written during a time when so much of life was in flux it was actually written during the first weeks of students returning to the school in person. As a result, the piece was written with all those unique emotions in mind; the idea of returning somewhere you've been before and were expecting to return to... but with the knowledge that it will be different now in unforeseeable ways. The fact that "you can never go home again" in no way diminishes the desire to do so, or takes away from the truth that home will always still be a place that is simultaneously real and only in your mind.

As another result of the time it was written, it was rehearsed but never premiered or recorded. Fast forward a couple years, and this past fall I was asked to be a guest artist at my friend and colleague Jacob Diewald's school in the Dallas area. This chart came up, and as a result we were able to premiere it during a really fun concert that capped off a great couple days of clinics and rehearsals. It's not even that unusual of a path for a piece of music, but given the emotion behind it, it was that much more special and unique to be able to finally hear it as part of a new journey working with a new program that was itself a welcome return to the familiar joy of playing and teaching music with friends.