Trails
an exCursion for clarinets and orchestra
Duration: ca. 25’
Movement 1: Zion Sunrise
Movement 2: Canyonland Cliffs
Movement 3: Switchback Scherzo
Movement 4: Verdant Valley PLunge
In this 25-minute Clarinet Concerto (version for Clarinet and Orchestra premiered by Laura Grantier and the Salt Lake City Symphony on April 12, 2025), the clarinetist will traverse four mountain trails by bike.
Each movement features a different trail and a different clarinet. Movement 1 depicts a sunrise ride in Zion National Park on Gooseberry Mesa Trail. The 2nd movement (for Alto or Bass clarinet) journeys across Twisted Tree Trail in Canyonlands, UT. Movement 3 (for E-flat or B-flat clarinet) features Porcupine Rim Trail in Utah, and the 4th and final movement explores Laura’s favorite trail, Trail 401 in Crested Butte, CO.
This concerto is a journey itself, with grueling uphill climbs, slowly unfolding scenery, wild switchbacks, high cliffs, and breakneck downhills. Getting outdoors and channeling all your energy and focus into the trail ahead is therapeutic and leaves you feeling on top of the world. It is amazing to have access to these stunning spaces and to be able to connect with the world around us in such an intense way. Mountain biking evokes thrill and adventure, fear and anxiety, wonder and bliss.
“It is an outlet for us to be.” -Laura Grantier