Hartford Symphony Orchestra - Tchaikovsky & Pride

Quinn Mason

Born March 23, 1996 in Shreveport, Louisiana

World Premiere: This program features the World Premiere of this work.
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, tam-tam, triangle, suspended cymbal, bass drum, chimes, harp, and strings: violin I, violin II, viola, cello, and bass
Duration: 12'

she dreams of flying (2023)
WORLD PREMIERE
COMMISSIONED BY THE HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Composer and conductor Quinn Mason is the inaugural Joyce C. Willis Artist-in-Residence for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra during the 2022-2023 season, part of a visionary initiative to support Black artists in collaboration with the HSO, Hartford Stage and Amistad Center made possible through a generous grant from The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation. During his HSO residency, Mason has composed she dreams of flying for premiere at these concerts, and is also working with the Learning & Social Impact Department on community and education initiatives with HSO partners throughout Hartford.

Quinn Mason was born in 1996 in Shreveport, Louisiana and studied composition in Dallas at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and University of Texas, and has also worked closely with renowned composers David Maslanka, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, David Dzubay and Robert X. Rodriguez. Mason has achieved remarkable distinctions for a musician still at the beginning of his career — his orchestral works have been performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Italian Radio National Orchestra, and many others; his compositions for wind band have been played by leading community and universities ensembles across the country; and his chamber, vocal and solo piano works have been featured by Voices of Change, Atlantic Brass Quintet, the Cézanne, Julius and Baumer string quartets, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Hornist David Cooper, pianist Lara Downes and violinist Holly Mulcahy. Quinn Mason is also a conductor, having studied with Marin Alsop, James Ross, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Will White, and guest conducted the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), Houston Ballet Orchestra, and other professional and youth orchestras across the country.

Among Mason’s rapidly accumulating awards and honors are those from the American Composers Forum, Texas A&M University, ASCAP, Dallas Foundation, National Flute Association, International Clarinet Association, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, and Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, he was honored by the Dallas Morning News as a finalist for “Texan of the Year,” and in 2022 served as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots Composer-in-Residence (the youngest composer appointed to that role) as well as the inaugural Resident Composer at KMFA, Austin’s classical music radio station.

Mason wrote, "she dreams of flying is a tribute to persistence and inspiration. The composition begins with an offstage trumpet motif over a soft string pad — a theme that persists in being heard by showing up throughout the piece in different forms, usually more prominent each time. From the beginning, the work builds, along the way showcasing the strengths and virtuosity of the orchestra. As the music becomes more inspired, the ideas get more complex, with the theme becoming more and more part of the texture until it is stated in full near the end.

“she dreams of flying was written for and is dedicated to Carolyn Kuan, one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.”