Where Eagles Sing
The inspiration for this piece came when the composer visited Florida and the Bird Sanctuary in Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom. He was in the audience to see the rare bird show where he witnessed some fabulous looking and endangered birds that were trained to perform different tricks that wowed the audience. The highlight for him was the conclusion of the show where the most awesome sight greeted us as an American Bald Eagle soared over the audience. That particular breed of Eagle has been a very rare bird of late. With so few in numbers, it nearly became a member of the sad group of animals that are extinct.
The host of the show took great delight in informing the audience that the fantastic creature is now officially safe and no longer classed as endangered. This made a great impact on the composer as the Eagle is an amazing bird, huge in size and power and yet so graceful in flight. This piece is everything associated with the Eagle; bold, powerful and graceful and now free to soar and sing in the American homelands.
Where Eagles Sing has been hugely successful as a curtain-raiser (or finale) with brass bands around the world and it is hoped that this version for concert band will be just as popular.