Behind the Piece: Seven Symphonic Portraits: A Weld County Reflection

In the summer of 2021, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra and Weld Community Foundation commissioned Composer in Residence Dylan Fixmer to write a symphonic work dedicated to the City of Greeley and the people of Weld County, Colorado. Prompted by the question "What brings us here?" Fixmer researched the historical and contemporary, discovering rich stories that make up Greeley and Weld County's past and present. Fixmer traveled city streets, learned the landscape, met colorful characters, and researched the interviews held in the archives of the Greeley Museums to find commonalities experienced by many. Fixmer's resulting music, Seven Symphonic Portraits: A Weld County Reflection, explores the hopes, dreams, struggles, and shortcomings that bind us all together in our search for utopia. In Fixmer's words “When we dream of utopia, what do we find in ourselves and in others? What binds us together? What blinds us to our shortcomings? We may dream of Utopia, yet fall away from grace. Our indifference, greed, distrust and self-righteousness forging inevitable demise. Struggling to stay afloat through hard times we persist in constant flux. Yet generations later still dream the same vision of the future: a better place for the next generation. We’re all here together. What do we need to learn to realize our utopia? At the end of the day, we may only have to examine the people who came here before us, champion their triumphs and learn from their mistakes.”

Fixmer hopes the composition inspires people to want to participate more and experience art that is made for the Northern Colorado community. “I think the more that people invest in community situations, the stronger the community becomes. The Greeley Philharmonic fulfills a need for the community to experience art that is meaningful and created for the community. My hope is that after this piece of music, people are called to invest more in the community and say ‘yes, I love this place and I want to double down on that effort.’”

Seven Symphonic Portraits: A Weld County Reflection

I. Dreaming: Visions of Utopia

As Fixmer researched to create this work, he read about all the dreams and aspirations that different peoples brought to the land. An Arapaho quote heavily influenced one of the melodies: “My children, my children, Here it is - I give it to you - the earth, the earth. “

II. Yearning: Searches for Knowledge

What does a community long for when they are in this region? They want their children to have knowledge and be ready for life! In this movement, Fixmer quotes a hymn that is the club song for the Want to Know Club, a gathering of women in Weld County founded in 1890. (The group is still active today!) The hymn, “Scatter Seeds of Kindness,” can be heard throughout the movement.

III. Changing: Cycles of Renewal

This movement portrays how change is cyclical by showcasing similar chords in a continuous progression. It was inspired by seeing a city management building that was, over time, built, razed, rebuilt again. Does the flickering melody sound familiar? Fixmer quotes the chickadee, a migratory bird that is seasonal in our region, to reemphasize constant change and renewal.

IV. Enduring: Hard Times

There are large events that globally effect a community beyond its control - wars, famine, depression, a pandemic… changes in history that effect lots of people quickly and tests a region’s spirit! There is a uniting aspect to these outside hardships. This piece is paired with the 5th movement as a pair of challenges.

V. Judging: Divisions Between Us

Another challenge explored in this orchestral work comes not from outside, like difficulties found in movement 4, but within. Where does the ignoring of human dignity and created divisions bring us as a community? Listen to the strings, found to be classical and serious, as they are in conflict with the rest of the more modern sounding orchestra!

VI. Celebrating: Moments of Unity

Movement 6 is based on a contra dance. This old-fashioned form of line dancing (think a barn dance from Little House on the Prairie), means you are moving against each other, or contra. But it is the contrast that makes the beauty happen! Communities share in the dance when they are distinctly themselves as cultures and peoples, yet in sync with each other in a way that benefits the whole.

VII. Imagining: Utopia Re-envisioned

We begin at the beginning, and you hear the themes from movement 1 played again, but instead of a descending line, the melody lifts and ascends into a bright, re-imagined future!

Fixmer worked with Greeley Museums staff to create a companion exhibit. The display explores each of the seven themes through images and objects held in the Museums’ collections. As visitors flow through the space, they will also move through the music, move through time, and move through the stories that make up our shared history. The final panel will offer visitors the opportunity to share how they re-envision utopia. The exhibit will run at the Greeley Museum starting on October 19, 2023.

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