Pinery Park

Pinery Park, Kristin Kuster (2019)
for solo trumpet and symphonic wind ensemble

Pinery Park is written for trumpet soloist William Lucas. A four-movement work, Pinery Park showcases the multi-faceted sounds and styles of varied trumpets, as well as my love of the Pinery Provincial Park on the shore of Lake Huron in Ontario. While the solo trumpet parts are tailored to highlight Lucas’s work as a crossover artist (a decades-long member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s trumpet section, Lucas is also an assistant professor in the Jazz Department of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance), Pinery Park can be presented with multiple soloists.

Pinery Provincial Park is a magical place. It is gorgeous. It has about 6 miles of shoreline on Lake Huron, with extremely rare ecosystems. It is also home to over 300 bird species. There are 10 walking/hiking trails, a beautifully-kept bike trail, and ski and snow-shoeing trails for the winter months. There are camping sites that snuggle up to the base of the dunes, and one can simply pop over a dune and spend the day on the breathtaking beach.

Membership dues for the Friends of the Pinery organization go to preserving the park. The park has naturalists on hand to educate visitors on the varied ecosystems within the park, as well as an app with maps, resources, etc. My favorite page on the app is “Dynamic Dunes,” which has graphics illustrating the evolution and ecology of the park’s beaches. It details how the shoreline of the Pinery is a landscape that is always changing. While the Pinery usually gains sand each year, occasionally the levels of Lake Huron have risen and eroded material away: in some periods the Pinery grows; in others it gives back some of its sand to the lake. Due to global warming and climate change, Lake Huron’s levels have been steadily increasing over the last decade, and the Pinery is currently in the midst of an ebb period—the shoreline dunes of the park are eroding away.

I adore the Pinery, and this music is a thank-you note to its beauty, grandeur, and loveliness. 

Pinery Park was commissioned by Director of Bands and Professor of Music Michael Haithcock, for the University of Michigan Symphony Band.

Wind Ensemble Instrumentation: Solo Trumpet (trumpet in C, Piccolo Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Trumpet in Bb); Piccolo, Flute 1-3, Oboe 1-3, Clarinet in Bb 1-3, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon 1-3, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Horn 1-4, Trumpet 1-3, Trombone 1-3, Euphonium 1-2, Tuba, Contrabass 1-2, Percussion 1-3, Harp, Piano

Wind ensemble performance parts are available via rental.

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