
When I was very young Bob transcribed my first compositions and made them into a little book. It has always been something I've treasured. In the first days following his death, I thought of this book and remembered that there was a half sheet of manuscript paper tucked in the back with the beginnings of a theme that Bob and I had playfully written together as kids. We triumphantly titled it “Millikan’s Symphony in A minor” in big block letters. I took it out, having not looked at it in many years, and discovered that interestingly it began with the interval of a descending minor 9th. It was then that the idea came to me to compose a “Millikan Symphony” for Bob, based in part on this theme. I met with Andy Olshan before the funeral and the rowers afterward, and plans for a collaborative weekend have been germinating and growing ever since.
Welcome to the Millikan Symphony blog! This will be a place where you can peer into my creative process over the next year as I collaborate with the Chapel Hill community and compose Millikan Symphony. What is normally a very solitary process for me will become a shared experience here on this blog. Do stay in touch!