Lias, Stephen: River Runner

As part of his National Parks Series, River Runner brings us up close and personal with the Santa Elena Canyon of Big Bend National Park. The three movements are musical distillations of scenes along a memorable kayaking trip, from the calm waters of the Rio Grande ("Lajitas") to the awe-inspiring canyon walls ("The Sentinel") to the rapids (“Rock Slide”) encountered along the way. The 12-minute work was dedicated to trombonist Deb Scott and pianist Ron Petti.