Lost Cause Kids

Lost Cause Kids is a piece written for solo 4.3 marimba. Written as a commission for the studio of Colby Snider, the piece is inspired by the patients of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Jude Thaddeus is the patron saint of lost causes, and the namesake of the hospital. The hospital has treated children with life threatening illnesses since its founding in 1962, and through research has drastically increased the survival rate of childhood cancers and other diseases. Lost Cause Kids begins with a simple and childlike melody that expands into a fun and playful theme. This theme develops and reprises, representing the normal growth and experiences one has as a child. As the piece moves into the next section, a darker more unsettled theme enters. Representing uncertainty and a foreboding challenge that awaits. This section overtime recedes and our original theme and playful melody reemerges, thus representing a return to normalcy.

The piece can be performed either as a solo marimba solo, or by including the optional vibraphone, glock, and drum set parts, it can easily become a chamber percussion ensemble work.