Joyacy was commissioned by conductor Robert Scagnelli and the Alvirne High School Band in celebration of the 75^th anniversary of Alvirne High School. While researching the school to prepare for composition, I was surprised when I discovered that there were no other schools in the country with the same name. I have never encountered this situation when approaching a piece for a high school, and as I researched further, I discovered that the unusual name is actually a portmanteau of the first names of the couple who originally donated the land to build the school, Alfred and Virginia Hills.

This immediately became the inspiration for the piece. It led to the title of the work, which is itself a portmanteau of JOY and LEGACY, honoring both the celebratory nature of the anniversary as well as the legacy and tradition that has established Alvirne’s place as a leading high school in New Hampshire. These two ideas also led to the formal and musical approach to the piece. It has been said that music either sings or dances, but this piece attempts to do both. The first section of the work begins with a dance of JOY, reflecting the happiness and energy inherent in an impressive anniversary celebration. The second section introduces a related melody, but one which instead sings, and which I have termed the LEGACY Chorale. A third, and final, section of the work returns to the opening materials, but also adds the Legacy Chorale during the climactic passage and, thereby, creates a sort of musical portmanteau.

Because of the active percussion program at Alvirne, I chose to feature those instruments throughout the work rather than using their more traditional supportive role. In the first section, all the percussionists play only mallet instruments; in the second section, various non-pitched instruments are exclusively used; and in the final section, all the percussionists play only drums and cymbals.

As a final nod to the concept of legacy, the piece also seeks to honor the legacy and continued growth of the band program at Alvirne. The first theme of the work is introduced by all the percussionists playing mallet instruments as a reference to Mr. Gerry Bastien, former band director at AHS and a keyboard player himself (although he was a pianist and not a percussionist). The second theme is then introduced by the flugelhorn as a salute to Mr. Robert Scagnelli, who, like so many other AHS faculty members, has stood on the shoulders of giants and continued to build the legacy and tradition that is Alvirne High School.