Live recording from Musikon Concerts.

« When I originally made it… I wanted to make something dreamlike, fantasy-based: the colours, the glows, the design of the world. But are we walking down this path, are we supposed to see what’s beyond it? Are we meant to observe but not touch things, because of a hidden danger? Are there always deep dark fears lying hidden amidst beauty? »

Beginning with the very quiet sound of dry leaves, In the forest, glow. is based on the illustration Don’t Feed the Deer by the Toronto-based artist Brandon James Scott. Glockenspiel, terra cotta pots, dry leaves and a golden bowl colour the work with a mysterious, magical, and yet almost foreboding quality.

In the forest, glow.
Dry leaves crumble underfoot.
A busy quiet.

In the forest, glow.
Secrets, gossip, mystery.
Hazy precipice.

In the forest, glow.
Browsing statues scrutinize
A subtle order.

Monica Pearce, originally from Prince Edward Island, is an award-winning composer of new classical/contemporary music with a particular affinity for solo and chamber music, opera, and unusual instruments. Pearce’s work has been performed by the Array Ensemble, Essential Opera, Bicycle Opera Project, TorQ percussion quartet, junctQín keyboard collective, Sneak Peek Orchestra, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Margaret Leng Ten, among others. Monica founded the emerging composer collective the Toy Piano Composers in 2008 with Chris Thornborrow. Monica Pearce is also the Executive Director of The Music Gallery, Toronto’s Centre for Creative Music.