Snowbirds
Oliver Searle
A piece for wind quartet.
Snowbirds is a word I came across while at a Cochlear Implant conference in Tampa (Florida), in March 2009. I had never previously heard this commonplace term to describe people who migrate away from (and occasionally towards, depending on your interests) wintry weather each year, often seasonally. Florida is obviously prime territory for those fortunate to be able to do this, in a country so large that various different climates exist at any time of year. My cousins are snowbirds. They are originally from Chicago (famed for its cold winters), but currently live on Maui, a Hawaiian island. For clear reasons, I rarely see them, but am often drawn to memories of good times spent together in periods of less adult responsibility. This piece draws on nostalgic, half-remembered fragments of nights out, grouping the quartet in pairs, as pieces of musical material dance around one another.
Instrumentation Genre Ensemble (no conductor)
Tag quartet
Duration 9 minutes
Instrumentation Flute [1 player]; Oboe [1 player]; Bass clarinet [1 player]; Bassoon [1 player]
Performances of this work
| Date | Venue | Performer | Link |
Upcoming events
- 12 Jan 2026, 12:30
[Covfefe: online monthly coffee chat for composers & musicians] - 23 Jan 2026, 18:00
[The Night With... Haptic and Stef Conner] - 25 Jan 2026, 19:30
[The Night With... Haptic and Stef Conner] - 26 Jan 2026, 12:30
[Covfefe: online monthly coffee chat for composers & musicians] - 31 Jan 2026, 19:30
[The Night With... Haptic and Stef Conner]
Recent updates
Works
- Quartet no 6 (Ma), by Matthew Whiteside
- Perihelion, by Neil Tòmas Smith
- Above the Stars, by Aileen Sweeney
Events
- The Night With... Haptic and Stef Conner
- The Night With... United Strings of Europe
- The Night With... Ensemble Offspring
Projects
- Aides... mémoires... Project album launch
- On a Wing and a Prayer
- On a Wing and a Prayer - presentation
Opportunities
- Noisy Nights in Glasgow – Call for Scores
- Red Note is looking for a new Chair of the Board
- In Motion 2026 - Sound and Music
