March 3, 2026 • 7:00 PM
Burns Hall 2105, NWACC Campus
Adoration explores connection as an act of attention—between people, across time, and through sound. Performed by Austin McFarland (clarinet & saxophones) with pianist Sung Kun Jung, and featuring Em Lindsey (oboe & English horn) and Samantha Canon (saxophones), the program is shaped by long-standing artistic relationships rooted in trust, shared language, and mutual care.
Each living composer on the program represents a direct connection within the performer’s creative community. The works by Katherine Murdock carry an additional layer of lineage: her teaching has shaped several of McFarland’s own teachers, creating a throughline of mentorship and influence that extends across generations. These relationships situate the music not as isolated works, but as part of a living, relational ecosystem.
Florence Price’s Adoration (arr. Elaine Fine) opens the program as a different but essential form of connection—one grounded in historical lineage rather than personal familiarity. Her music reminds us that our creative lives are also shaped by voices we may never meet, yet whose work continues to make space for listening, presence, and belonging.
Presented as part of NWACC’s Spring Arts & Culture Festival, Adoration invites listeners to consider connection not simply as collaboration or proximity, but as care—chosen, sustained, and renewed through the act of listening.
Program:
Adoration by Florence Price Arr by Elaine Fine
Trees Dream of Dancing by Katherine Murdock with Em Lindsey, English horn
The Blessing Trees by Jenni Brandon
Trio Bel Canto by Katherine Murdock with Samantha Canon, Alto saxophone
Longing Past the Moon by Katherine Murdock with Samantha Canon, Soprano Saxophone
The Journey by Karalyn Schubring
Paper Year by Jenni Watson with Em Lindsey, Oboe