Trapped by Micheal Barnes

Trapped was written in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was commissioned by Ricardo A. Coelho de Souza. This piece explores the general feeling of the political climate of that time and the pandemic experience. Due to the state mandated lockdowns, many people felt socially, economically, and spiritually isolated; everyone was trapped in one way or another. But a message of hope, literally spelled out in morse code, shifts the mood of the music and questions whether we were truly trapped — Micheal Barnes. Total duration is ca. 9:30 minutes. Instrumentation (4 players): Clarinet in B flat Bass clarinet in B flat Vibraphone Marimba Specs: Score format, 11h x 8.5w, 12 pages, Advanced level. About the Composer: A faculty member of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Micheal Barnes is an in-demand performer and educator. He has been an invited performer at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, National Flute Association Convention, and International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, and is actively working to grow the repertoire available to percussionists, having premiered and commissioned over two dozen works to date. Micheal has presented his research on percussion pedagogy, embodied cognition, and conceptual metaphor theory at various national and international conferences and has composed works for solo percussion, percussion ensemble, and steel band. His published articles can be read in Percussive Notes and Rhythm! Scene. In 2018, Barnes was awarded the American Prize in Solo Instrumental Music and has been a featured soloist with many groups including the University of Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra. The Barnes Duo (Carly Barnes, flute) was awarded second place in the 2022 American Prize for Chamber Music. Micheal holds an MM in Music Theory and an MM in Percussion Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a BM from the University of Oklahoma. He is pursuing a DMA at Temple University. Micheal is a Vic Firth Educational Artist, Marimba One Educational Artist, and Zildjian Artist.