When I was first asked to write a piece for the ISO Symphonic Band at the Third Street Music School — an organization that has been bringing music and other performing arts to the Lower East Side of Manhattan for over 125 years! — the only thing that was asked of me was to write something that reflected the mission of the school by celebrating the idea of “community.”

As I began to write and find my way into the piece, I kept coming back to the idea of parades and carnivals and street festivals. It just happened to be a coincidence that the piece premiered in the middle of June — a historically festive month for New Yorkers. In fact, the Brooklyn Pride Parade was the night before, the Puerto Rican Day Parade kicked off just hours before the concert began across town, and the following weekend was the uniquely New Yorkian Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

I think anytime we gather in our communities like this to show the world “who we are” in such dazzling and spectacular ways is always worth celebrating. If you can imagine all of these different festivities coming together to march down the same street at the same time to form one enormous super-parade, that’s the vibe I really hoped to capture.

Street Flair premiered on June 12, 2022 at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts performed by the ISO Symphonic Band under the direction of Paul Corn.