The Composer writes:

"Summer (H)ours was written in 2005 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Craftsbury Chamber Players. Another less auspicious but personally significant milestone is my 10th season with the Chamber Players. To write for my dear friends whom I've met at the festival, and to have the work premiered for the audience I've come to know like extended family is truly an honor. This opportunity, combined with the unique feeling of community among the Players and supporters of this festival gave me the idea for the title. On one level, summer hours are different from the rest of the year, not only for businesses but for kids, adults, even for nature. Summer hours are magical -- longer than hours usually are when we want them to be, shorter than they seem when we're waiting to do something else. This is also "Summer Ours," meaning that this time and this music are ours together to enjoy and remember during the colder moments of the year. Thus I humbly offer this work to everybody who "gets" it about this place and this festival. This music is no more mine than anyone else's here. Craftsbury brought it out of me, and I'm lucky to be able to share it.

"I scored the work for the unusual combination of violin, cello, bass, trumpet, and marimba. The piece explores the many sonorities that different combinations of these instruments offer, as well as the different musical dialects idiomatic to the instruments and to the particular players involved. This includes the use of jazz harmonies, latin rhythms and polyrhythms, and as a centerpiece to the work, a setting of the old country ballad "Peg and Awl." To capture these many different flavors, I've divided the work into five short movements. Although the trumpet and marimba are often prominently featured, with support by the strings, every instrument has an opportunity to step into the spotlight. The work is approximately 18 minutes long."