FLOODESIGN

Peak Performances: The team for this project is far-flung. How do you work together long-distance? David Skidmore: Skype! [Laughter] Cathie Boyd: Peak Performances enabled me to spend time in Chicago working with TCP, and that was so important. DS: Actually, we are in residence at the Alexander Kasser Theater rehearsing right now. CB: The Cryptic team is joining next week. We have been watching TCP's rehearsals via Skype every day. PP: This may be a first, focusing lighting instruments via Skype. DS: We can even hear the lighting designer [Nich Smith, based in Glasgow] over the "God" mic in the theater! PP: What inspired TCP's commission of Haunt of Last Nightfall? DS: We were big fans of David T. Little's music, and we knew he liked to deal with current events, social responsibility, things we were interested in exploring too. He had read Mark Danner's The Truth about El Mozote about events in a small town in El Salvador during that country's civil war in the 1980s. David was struck by its tragedy and wondered why he had never heard about it. It haunted him; he couldn't get it out of his mind. That's what he was capturing when he was writing Haunt. CB: It's a wonderful, tragic, beautiful piece. What you can't get when you listen to the recording is the physicality of the players. When I saw it live in Chicago, I realized there's an incredible amount of energy that comes off the stage. PP: How were the other works and composers selected for the program? CB: Peter Garland's Apple Blossom was part of TCP's existing repertoire and already in their comfort zone. That was good because I knew with Haunt I was going to push them considerably. We were also looking at other composers who would complement David T. Little. Peter Martin of Third Coast Percussion Photo: Gennadi Novash " " We were big fans of David T. Little's music, and we knew he liked to deal with current events, social responsibility, things we were interested in exploring too. " www.peakperfs.org 25

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