2020 College Music Society | Pacific Southwest Regional Conference

Showcase Performance

Northern Arizona University | Kitt Recital Hall | Flagstaff, AZ

Harbinger Duo presents a showcase recital performance of Kurt Mehlenbacher’s work, Where Once Was Safe at the 2020 CMS Regioinal Conference .

Where Once Was Safe was commissioned for the 2019 International Clarinet Conference, "Embracing the World", in Knoxville, TN. The work was composed in order to provide a dialogue on the socio-political unrest in the United States.

"I have unplugged, to put it one way. The current direction of the world we live is not thrilling me, and I feel ultimately powerless to do anything about it. People around me are apathetic, though I realize now that they are likely doing the same as me: indulging in the ignorance of the atrocities around us and simply working to get by. It’s horrifying to be aware of this.

And so, with another opportunity to write, I chose to adopt a storyline of abandoning life in search of something ‘better,' only to realize that what was once ‘better’ is something else entirely. It is a story of which we have not yet seen the conclusion, of places we once thought were safe and are no longer, and of people looking for more in life and are willing to undergo tremendous hardships for their chance to achieve it.

It is incomplete, this story. But if the parallels are any indication, my hope is that there will be something wonderful for those who journey when they reach the end."

-Kurt Mehlenbacher, July 2019