The educational festivals of the Bund Deutscher Blasmusikverbände e.V. (German Wind Music Association) are a long-established continuing education program with professionals and top lecturers from around the world. In 2017 I was commissioned by Kilian Herold, artistic director of the ‘Klarinettentage Staufen’ and Professor for Clarinet at the Musikhochschule Freiburg, to compose a piece for Clarinet Orchestra. The piece was to be presented at the festival’s final concert. Since the festival was open to musicians of different levels and ages, ‘While you were sleeping’ is divided in 3 groups of easy, medium and professional difficulty level. This piece is essentially program music: through improvisation, extended instrumental techniques, as well as the different locations of the musicians in the concert hall, it narrates a vivid dream, which is eventually violently disrupted from the sound of an alarm clock.

Listen to the piece here