Sarah Gibson was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on May 21, 1986. The first performance of to make this mountain taller took place at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida, on March 31, 2023, with Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the Sarasota Orchestra. to make this mountain taller is scored for three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), two clarinets in B-flat, one bass clarinet in B-flat, three bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), four horns in F, three trumpets in C, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, two percussionists (percussion 1: vibraphone, four log drums, snare drum, two wood slats, two pieces of junk metal, shell chime; percussion 2: kick drum, two wood slats, three wood blocks, tam-tam, water gong, snare drum, sizzle cymbal), piano, harp, and strings. Approximate performance time is nine minutes.
to make this mountain taller, by Los Angeles-based composer and pianist Sarah Gibson, was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
On the day Roe v. Wade was overturned in the U.S., I went to the Norton Simon Museum where I came upon Aristide Maillol’s La Montagne: an immense statue of a sitting woman with hair blowing in the wind. Struck initially by the monumental size of the work, I was then attracted to the contrast between the statue’s angular features against her windswept hair and concerned expression.
Historically, it seemed to me uncommon to relate a woman to a mountain—normally such a large and bold figure would be given masculine characteristics. I saw this woman as being strong, capable, and feminine all at once. Figuratively, I also pondered the number of mountains that women and non-male-identifying people have had to climb simply to access the most basic rights. While it was painful to realize that each generation may have to fight the same fights all over again, I was comforted by the trailblazers who have shown us what can be achieved. Later that day, I found a poem by Rupi Kaur which summarized my feelings about this experience:
—Sarah Gibson
https://www.sarahgibson-music.com/works/to-make-this-mountain-taller