MANY HANDS is about the rhythms of landscape and labor in Appalachian Ohio. The old phrase, “many hands make light work” is the starting point, where people work together toward a common cause and are greater for it. Throughout, the music evokes the emotions, natural environments, and communities that can be found in the region. The twenty-four movements musically amplify a very different Appalachia from recent stereotypes. They draw inspiration from a complex landscape of environmental damage and recovery, small towns with a long history of labor struggles, and current soundscapes that both celebrate and critically listen to the people that live there.

MANY HANDS is divided into two sets of twelve pieces each, based on LANDSCAPES (with “open” rhythms) and LABOR (with “structured” rhythms). The landscapes are named after small towns in Appalachian Ohio — from Moxahala to San Toy to Junction City (my father’s birthplace) — and evoke their natural and human rhythms. The labor portraits are named after past and present local people and their jobs, from prominent black labor organizers and boxing coaches to miners and moonshiners. They reflect the shared rhythms of manual, community, and care labor that form the fabric of the region.

24 pieces for piano, for two to six performers, and one to three pianos; 113 pages.