Marine Layer - REED5/PN (OB/CL/ASX/BCL/BSN/PN)

Marine Layer
for reed quintet and piano: oboe, clarinet, alto sax, bass clarinet, bassoon, and piano

by Kincaid Rabb (b.1993) - American composer

ABOUT THE MUSIC:

Named for the weather phenomenon that rolls into Southern California during the window between spring and summer each year, Marine Layer depicts gray mornings in La Jolla, California transforming into glorious sunlit afternoons. In the months of May and June, the mornings begin cloaked in light clouds, which persist until they break in the afternoons, revealing a cloudless sky beyond and illuminating the waves of the Pacific crashing upon glittering beaches and dramatic rock formations. Marine Layer’s gestural, almost improvisatory rhythms suggest the unpredictability of the ocean, both in its quiet morning grays and its joyous afternoon blues and whites.

The work was composed in consultation with Victoria Lee, oboist for Syrinx Quintet, a reed quintet based in Orange County and Los Angeles. The International Double Reed Society encourages its members submitting applications for inclusion in its conferences to apply to perform the music of composers from the place they are from, and Syrinx Quintet chose to center me and my partner, Kevin, in their application, featuring two works by Southern California composers inspired by California’s natural beauty for reed quintet and piano. Marine Layer is one of those works.

Marine Layer was commissioned by Victoria Lee for Syrinx Quintet and premiered at the 2024 International Double Reed Society Conference in Flagstaff Arizona by Syrinx Quintet and Kevin Day.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER:

Kincaid Rabb (b. 1993, they/them pronouns) is an award-winning writer and music-maker, working at the intersection of storytelling and new music. Kincaid is an artist-scholar whose research includes musical narratology, emotional catharsis, and the phenomenon of the theme park as inspiration. Using narration, worldbuilding, and a strong sense of fun and play, Kincaid creates musical experiences that immerse audiences into intimate spaces and that reward waders, swimmers, and divers alike. Kincaid produces works that trapeze artistic disciplines, curating performances that seamlessly integrate different sensory experiences and create lasting memories through relatable stories. 

Kincaid’s collaborations have included Paradise Winds, The _____ Experiment, the Driftwood Quintet, Kontra Duo, Keyed Kontraptions, Duo R2, the Brelby Theatre Company, and the faculty and students at the University of Arizona and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Kincaid is a founding member of Basket of Owls, an ensemble of musician-narrators dedicated to curating spaces for unheard stories, and flourish! new music ensemble, an ensemble committed to sparking joy in new music. Their principal teachers have included Douglas Harbin, Daniel Asia, Pamela Decker, Diego Vega, and Jennifer Bellor. 

Currently residing in Tucson, Arizona, Kincaid graduated with a Master of Music in Composition in 2021 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where they held graduate assistantships in theory, composition, and musicology. They graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Music in Composition in 2017. Kincaid is a member of the Millennium Composers Initiative, is affiliated with ASCAP, and is published with Trevco Music. Kincaid can usually be found at Scented Leaf in Tucson, Arizona, sipping on a matcha lemonade, watching the world go by and writing their next adventure into music. 

For more information about Kincaid and their music, please visit www.kincaidrabb.com