Symphony #1 "Travelogue of the Locusts" by Mary Wright and
Jody Hughes
had its premiere August 1, 2009 at Gallery Homeland
in Portland, Oregon.
"Travelogue of the Locusts" consists of 10
pieces that revolve around
the themes of the cycle of life, circadian rhythm, and the
non-human cultural habits of nature. This production is similar
to a play, where characters come and go, affecting the dynamic
of the work. In this case, the characters, or players, are the musicians, who enter
and exit the performance space in a fluid, uninterrupted manner
as they are needed. Therefore, a particular song may begin with
a tuba alone on stage, continue adding strings and horns, and may
end with two flutes playing alone on stage. The instrumentation
of each song is unpredictable by the audience.
Mary Wright is a composer and sound artist residing in Portland, Oregon. She holds degrees in music composition from Princeton University (Ph.D., M.F.A.), California Institute of the Arts (M.F.A.), and music theory from Cleveland Institute of Music (B.M.). Ms. Wright's music has been performed by major chamber music ensembles in the United States including, the Kronos Quartet and Bang on a Can All-Stars. She has received commissions from the MIT Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Forum, Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, the Meet the Composer/Readers Digest Commissioning Program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Fund, and ASCAP/ Bang On A Can (In Memory of John Cage). She has received awards from the International League of Women Composers, ASCAP (Young Composers Award), and the first Margaret Blackburn Memorial Competition. A strong proponent of interdisciplinary projects, she has collaborated with computer scientists, architects, and artists. 
Jody Hughes is a musician originally from a small
town in east Texas. He has performed and toured nationally as well as
internationally with shows, ranging from a one-man-band performance
with dancing waters to a series of lectures on the history of country
music and southern politics. His multi-media music performances have
been performed at Lawndale Art Center and DiverseWorks in Houston, Los Angeles
Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), and dozens of live music venues in Portland,
Munich, Berlin, New York, Austin. He produced records for Elizabeth Venable
and Michael Luchtan, composed music and sound design for 'The Misadventures
of Lewis and Clark' puppet show
at the TBA Festival in Portland. He is a founding member of Autotopia,
a space-rock band.