Roanoke (2013)

Duration: 12 minutes

Performed by: What Is Noise including Dalia Chin, flute; Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet; Cholong Park, piano; Megan Arns, percussion; Joshua Burel, vioiln; and Justin Page, cello. 

Recording: Centaur Records. Available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify.

Carnegie Hall Performance: What Is Noise on May 5, 2014.

World Premiere: What Is Noise on December 2, 2013 at Florida State University.

Program Note:

Roanoke was a colony of 150 people on the Chesapeake Bay during the early colonization of America. Captain John White, who established the colony, feared for the lives of his people and left for England to secure additional supplies to guarantee the survival of the colony. Because of war in England, White was unable to return to Roanoke for three years and when he finally came back to the colony he saw that it was deserted with only one clue left to explain what had happened. The word “Croatoan” was carved into a post of the fort and the word “Cro” carved in a nearby tree. Along with all of the missing colonists was White’s own daughter. While many theories exist about what happened to the colony, nobody knows for sure. White was never able to locate the colony and this piece reflects the emotions he must have felt when he returned to his lost colony.