Impressions Julie Giroux

"Impressions" takes the listener on a journey consisting of several highly contrasting sections. The opening theme, which is highly rhythmic in nature, is referred to as "Mathematics." The second section, entitled "The Most Noble of Professions," is broad and sweeping in nature, representing the impact teachers have on their students over the course of generations. The next section, entitled "Two Pitches for Two Sisters," is a poignant section featuring a melody which consists primarily of only two pitches representing Karen Judge and her sister Janice. (Karen commissioned this work in memory of her sister Janice, a math teacher who lost her battle with breast cancer.) The next section, entitled "Musicals" is odd-metered, rhythmic and energetic. Light-hearted in nature, the melody gets tossed around the band much in the fashion of the choreography of a musical. The final section is a reprise of the "Noble" theme in a grander, uplifting style. The piece as a whole is very much a musical synopsis of the life and loves of a single person, in this case, Janice, giving it the fitting title of "Impressions."