124. Human Stories: Jared Oaks

This week, Jared Oaks, Ballet West Music Director, shares his coming out journey. Jared has also shared a composition which you will hear at the end of the episode. From Jared:
A Place of Mirrors
III. White Horses of the Shamans
Rebecca Moench, violin
Jared Oaks, piano
The music for my short ballet, A Place of Mirrors is inspired by shamanic tradition, traditional shamanic mirrors, and the idea of reflection.
This final movement, “White Horses of the Shamans,” is inspired by Walther Heissig’s 1944 account of a female shaman, who indicated that the mirrors are a vehicle for the shamans.
The music is somewhat unified by use of a tone row consisting of 10 pitches, which are played in various ways, such as retrograde, inversion, etc.
These ideas came about as a result of my friendship and discussions with dancer and choreographer David Arce. The piece was commissioned by Debra Pearse Rogo, director of Mid-Columbia Ballet.