Title: Zoom!
Duration: Approximately 7 minutes
Composer: Shawn E. Okpebholo
Work composed: 2020
World premiere: Zoom! was first heard in December 2021 via digital streaming.  Its premiere was performed by the strings and percussion of the US Air Force Band conducted by  Col. Don Schofield. 
Instrumentation: strings, percussion (written for one percussionist, playing the following instruments: castanets, hi-hat, tambourine, crotales (high-pitched brass discs), 2 tom toms, triangle) 

Zoom!

Shawn Okpebholo’s compositions consistently elicit superlatives from critics and audiences alike.  Such descriptions as “… enormous grace in his music, and fantasy and color,” “fresh and new and fearless,” and “dreamy, sensual” are commonplace for this American composer and educator.  Talented, prolific, and an award-winning composer, Okpebholo has been commissioned by dozens of excellent artists and orchestras, and his music has been performed all across America, Europe, and Asia.  His 2022 album of songs, O Lord, How Come Me Here? (Spirituals, Folk Hymns, and Art Song Reimagined) was nominated for a Grammy.  But his successes didn’t come easily.  Recently, just after a 2018 premiere of one of his works at Carnegie Hall, Okpebholo reflected on his remarkable musical journey: 

It was really a surreal moment [premiering his work at Carnegie Hall] because I’m a kid that grew up in the projects, the poorest part of town, and then because The Salvation Army and other people took a chance on me, years later I’m sitting at the most famous concert hall in the U.S. hearing my music being performed. 

Okpebholo’s music is often much like his delightful personality – winsome and energetic, driven by optimism.  Such is the character of his 2020 work Zoom!.  Commissioned by the United States Air Force Band for their elite string ensemble with percussion, Okpebholo created a work that reflected the 2020 pandemic’s unique moment in our recent human experience.  But rather than focus on the Lockdown’s strain on personal relationships, education, and crippling of businesses, Okpebholo instead celebrated the world’s race towards a vaccine, and the iconic digital format of communication that suddenly became as important as telephones – Zoom conferences.  Naturally, Zoom!’s premiere in 2021 was streamed digitally.

As Okpebholo explained his work:

ZOOM / zo͞om / verb: move or travel very quickly
or, as I like to define:
ZOOM / zo͞om / verb: to be together when apart

Because of a global pandemic, the year 2020 will stand out in history as perhaps the most challenging year we, as a world, will have to endure in our lifetime. But even during this era, there is hope—a universal anticipation of a return to normalcy—an idea I wanted to artistically evoke in ZOOM!. This work was motivated by my desire to construct a composition that embodies a word, phrase, or idea that, in part, defines this season. "Zoom" quickly rose to the top of the list, as much of our lives and interaction with people have become centered around the video conferencing platform of the same name. Musically, most of the composition is energetic, moves quickly, and radiates joy. These attributes echo the literal meaning of the title. The title further reflects the rapid development of vaccines, restoring humanity and adding hope in a time where that sentiment was easily abandoned. The slower middle section evokes the dichotomy of being together while apart: unsatisfying in one aspect, yet, cherished.

As befits its title and inspiration, Okpebholo’s Zoom! is energetic, but in a way that feels anticipatory, like the excitement of going to a party or, in the case of the Pandemic, the hope of seeing your friends again.  The opening section begins with the string bass playing a plucked and sort of jazzy “walking bass” solo, to the accompaniment of the wonderfully hollow and woody sound of the castanets.  It evokes a feeling of tap dancing towards something lovely.  Soon, the rest of the strings join in, one or more at a time in accretion, and here Okpebholo creates a marvelous effect.  The strings diverge into slightly different parts, although all of them are woven together to create a whole musical fabric.  The effect is like a photomosaic – a large image comprised of many miniature images – like a musical version of a Zoom conference filled with smaller images on the screen.

The drive of this work is propelled almost constantly by pulsing and energy-fueled strings, with the percussion adding colorful punctuation.  The slower, gentler middle section uses simultaneous dissonance and harmoniousness to create, as Okpebholo describes, his “dichotomy of being together while apart.”  At about 3 minutes in, the softer middle section begins to break out again into more energy, with some especially fun writing in the bass and cellos.  The “walking bass” line returns, but this time, feeling even more frisky by using a great deal of portamento (sliding between pitches), and strumming all the strings.  The piece gathers strength as more strings join in.  The ending, with the final notes seeming to be left hanging in the air without total resolution, is the perfect way to conclude Zoom!.  Though there is much cause for optimism, there are some things left unfinished, and not everything is quite back to normal.