A couple months ago, I was rehearsing for one of my colleague’s composition recital. There was one orchestra piece he wrote was for a smaller orchestra and I was not playing, so I listened. It was Yosemite in Winter. It’s a calm piece with a hint of action that perfectly captures the spirit of winter. After listening to this, I immediately had an idea of what Yosemite in summer would sound like. Yosemite is known for its mountains, rivers, forests, but most of all, its American grandeur. Yosemite in Summer aims to capture the vibrancy of Yosemite by taking on many musically cultural elements associated with the American landscape, such as that of Aaron Copland. But most of all, a huge thanks to Tristan D. Perez for both giving me the inspiration to write this piece and the permission to build off the ideas for his own work.