On Oct. 1, 2011, clarinetist Justin O’Dell and violinist (and SSMF Director) Katherine Lehman joined Gwendolyn Burgett Thrasher, marimba, to perform Kevin Puts, “And Legions will Rise” at the eighth annual Clarinet Spectacular on the campus of Michigan State University. SSMF alumni and students of O’Dell, Devin Langham, Jennifer Tinburg and Michelle Lewandowski offered enthusiastic support from the audience!
The work, which was performed on the Faculty Chamber Music Series this past July, was composed in the summer of 2001, and is about the power in all of us to transcend during times of tragedy and personal crisis. Puts says, “While I was writing it, I kept imagining one of those war scenes in blockbuster films, with masses of troops made ready before a great battle. I think we have forces like this inside of us, ready to do battle when we are at our lowest moments.”
