Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.
Now that she’s finished graduate school, Sophie Bracken finds herself longing for past springs.
The University of Michigan alum and Ann Arbor clarinetist channels that feeling when she performs “I cannot meet the Spring unmoved” with OUT Ensemble, a wind quintet composed of LGBTQ+ musicians performing and commissioning the works of queer classical composers.
“I know that I myself am kind of nostalgic in spring for my high school days and some of the things we would do together in high school band,” said Bracken, who recently graduated with a master’s degree in chamber music. “I think it’s just a really interesting way to reflect on spring.”
Composed by U-M alum Nora Farley, “I cannot meet the Spring unmoved” is titled after and inspired by the Emily Dickinson poem of the same name.
“I really like Nora’s interpretation of spring,” Bracken said. “The Emily Dickinson poem, as well, that she’s drawing from has a lot of nostalgia and longing, which isn’t necessarily what you associate with spring—it’s usually a season of renewal and hope.”
The piece also serves as the opening track from OUT Ensemble’s debut album, Seasons of Change, which comes out May 22.
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