Denali's Metropolis was inspired by my five-day residency in Denali National Park in Alaska for the 2018 Composing in the Wilderness workshop. The piece takes you on the journey of climbing up Cathedral Mountain, one of Denali National Park's infamous mountains. The piece starts with the rocky and slippery climb up; the rapid 16th notes imitating the running water heading down our path from the snow and ice high above us. Striking moments as we all dig our feet and trekking poles into the ground, doing anything to allow us to have some stability. As we climb closer to the tops, we can hear a brief moment of the major version of the lyrical section of the piece, as if catching a glimpse of the beauty between the mountain and the view. At the top, you expect this glorious hoo-rah moment but instead, you sit and ponder as you look out at the breath-taking moment. You're sad. You're sad because this is probably one of the most beautiful and glorious spots in the world and today is your last day to see it. While you lookout into the distance, you can't help but notice that this is nature's city or nature's metropolis.

*Personal Note:
I have no plans on expanding this piece. This work was conceived in one and half days and was performed two days after it was written. This work will always hold itself as a milestone for me as it was the first time I ever produced a piece of this caliber with so little time. I learned more about myself, what are my interests, and what I can accomplish in short and fast burst of writing new music. Will I ever write a piece in one and half days? Hopefully not, but it was worth every second of putting this all together.