Blackbird Fly is based on a poem of the same name by E.J. Graff. I first encountered this poem as a graduate student at New England Conservatory in Boston. Blackbird Fly is etched into the platform (along with several other poems) at the Davis Square "T" (subway) stop, and I stood on that platform nearly every day for two years reading this poem and planning to create a setting of it. It took ten years, but here it is. The basic materials for the piece come from a recording of the poem which then undergoes extensive computer processing including granular synthesis and linear predictive coding using the Csound synthesis language and Matt Ingalls' now defunct score generator. The components of the piece were mixed using Digital Performer.
Formally, the work begins with a "reading" of the three line poem which is followed by "variations" on each of the lines and concludes with a second "reading" that reflects the material developed in the variations.