Composer: Nicholas Ryan KellyDetailsFormat: Mixed Choir - 4 voicesVoicing: SATBIncidental Divisi: S, AAccompaniment: keyboardInstrumentation: pianoNotation: standardPerformance Length: 5:00 Study Scores & Audio FilesStudy Score & Audio Order Printed ScoresPublisher: Self-published: NRK-C124Order site / Alternate source of score: https://musicspoke.com Texts & TranslationsLanguage(s): EnglishText Source: James IwasukText: “First Call. Now Boarding.” Names spill out like a milk run, of whistle stops, serving hot coffee, across a well worn, torn tattered torn road map. A dormitory of numbered lockers, house packed suitcase lives, secured for 24 hours. Ticket wickets selling “Dream Lotteries,” booking passage on… “It’s Going To Be Better!” Red eye hasty departures, unannounced arrivals, kind couches creased with over stayed welcome, one-way ticket destinations. “Last call. Final call, now boarding.” At the starting gate, Bus bays of diesel engines revving, like panting beasts with bellies baggage bulged; excited silver. Intimate conversations seek lonely companions, to tell their Life story. Strangers sweaty silently sit seated Reserved weary… praying for a place to stretch out their feet and sleep, and sleep, and sleep; as Greyhounds race full out, bounding through the passing night, down Coquihalla, Yellowhead, Trans Canada tracks. Psst! Air brakes releasing, Like running out of breath. Psst! Programming AidsPerformance Difficulty: difficultDescriptive Terms: travelrestlessnessAmericanaescapeAllow Excerpts: Composition is a single movementComposer’s Notes: A restless, energetic SATB piece suitable for collegiate choirs. A driving piano part--influenced by minimalism and rock music--provides a rhythmic impetus for more expansive, colorful vocal lines. At turns frenzied, lyrical, and visceral, this piece pays disillusioned tribute to that not-so-glamorous icon of the open road, the Greyhound bus. Additional InformationDate of Completion: May, 2019Date of First Performance: Friday, June 14, 2019Premier Performance Data: Choral Arts Initiative (Brandon Elliott, cond), St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA