(flute music) (band music) - Thank you, thank you so much for being here.

I know that it's hard when you're trying to manage all of the things that you have to take care of during advisory time.

I'm hoping that we start to that we're starting to be able to do sectionals and things like that, both for this piece and for Grand Junction.

My role here at Boulder High School is the Assistant Director for the high school bands.

I started band in the sixth grade.

Nobody in my family studied music at all.

So I just had in the back of my mind I wanted to be a flutist.

I agreed to be in marching band.

I originally did not think that I wanted to do that that I just wanted to play in concert band.

And then I was named one of the drum majors.

In that process conducting and being able to run rehearsals I decided that that's what I wanted to do for my career.

(piano music) - [David] The way I start every project, whether it's musical theater, or TV or multimedia, whatever it might be, the director or the the point person lets me know what their vision is, what's in their heart.

And for me as a composer, I always try to get to the emotional core of what the piece is about, 'cause then I know how everything is surrounding it, or leading to it, or building on that.

(dramatic band music) (calm band music) - [Jenn] I was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014.

You know, we caught it early.

I had a lumpectomy and did radiation.

That was it.

It was easy.

And I feel like from start to finish it was over in four months.

In 2020 I found another small lump and pretty much knew what it was.

- There was concern of abnormally looking lymph nodes in her left armpit area and we decided to get a PET CT scan.

PET CT scans are scans that we use to see the spread of the cancer to other areas of the body.

- And I was like, oh, this isn't good.

We got the PET scan results back and I had some bone lesions, rib, hip and along my spine, so it was considered stage four and it completely changed the treatment plan.

- [Sravanti] Our radiation oncologist at Good Samaritan Hospital felt that she should get urgent radiation to the thigh bone area.

Where the cancer was as it was at risk for fracture.

- I did some high dose radiation for the largest bone lesions and then started targeted therapy.

So I'm on an oral chemo and I am on hormonal therapy.

So I take injections every month just to keep the estrogen down that feeds the cancer.

- I played triangle.

I was first chair triangle player in high school and haven't kept up with it.

So no, I'm not a musician but I've always loved music and appreciated music.

And now I really appreciate what music can do.

I live up in the mountains in the country place and we did music concerts once a year and once one time we were doing a classical music, a chamber music event, and I played with this little girl, the daughter of two of the performers and the mom was a flute player with the Colorado Symphony.

Dad is a horn player with the symphony and then also head of horns for CU Boulder.

And I played with her little girl Lauren on the rocks that day, sweet family.

And she was four years old at the time.

Six months afterwards I got a phone call that said that little girl you were playing with had cancer and it just tore me apart.

And my wife and I said, "Hey, we should do something special for Lauren."

And it took us a few weeks before we finally came up on the ideas like, "Well they're a musical family.

She's used to playing on the weekends at the theater while they're in rehearsal.

What if we had an original piece composed just for Lauren and then performed just for Lauren?"

And that started off something really magical.

At the end of that very first performance, Lauren looked up at me and said, "Clark, I'm never gonna stop smiling."

And that changed me, but I was already working in high tech and I wasn't looking to make a change.

And so it was just like a one-time gift.

And then about a year later we ran into another musician with a a different situation and we did a piece for him.

And then about four years later I got laid off from my high tech job and I thought, "What means more in my life than anything?"

And it was making music for these kids that really needed it.

- [Anna] When she got her first diagnosis, we were all pretty young, we didn't really know what was happening, or understand the extent of it.

I never expected her to get a second diagnosis ever.

So that I think the second time around it was a lot harder because we were also going through a lot of family stuff.

But her drive and determination always has inspired me.

Always.

- A group of my friends, book club friends decided when I was a year out of my first cancer diagnosis that we were gonna run the Teton half marathon.

It was the inaugural race.

So a group of us went and did that half marathon and that's probably what kick started my endurance training.

I like to set goals that not a lot of people can accomplish.

Every time I set a goal for myself, I figure out a way to take the baby steps to reach that goal.

- It's really inspirational to see how like motivated she is 'cause she's had to like sacrifice a lot of things just to like reach her goals.

And it's really crazy to see like the point where she can get to in just like a couple years.

- [Jenn] I get the most joy from being outside and being active and enjoying the people that I'm with whether it's my daughters or whether it's friends.

That's where I feel the most joy.

- [Announcer] From Erie, Colorado, Jennifer Dunn.

You are an Ironman.

- [Jenn] It was never on my radar until my friend and coach Randy Solar said, "You know, 2020 is the time to do a full Ironman.

Like, that's gonna be cool."

And I said, "Well maybe by the time I'm 50."

And he said, "No, 2020's the year to do it."

And then Covid hit and I was re-diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to defer to 2021 and I was able to complete that race.

(upbeat music) (moaning and grunting) - I think everyone is used to hearing about breast cancer.

Unfortunately it affects one in three women and it's really hard to find someone who doesn't have a family member or a friend or someone that they've known that's battled breast cancer.

- And I think just each phase I think it's good to just kind of recognize that this is an important part of my life, but I am not defined by my breast cancer, right?

Like there's so much more to me and this is one thing that I need to focus on, but I also need to make sure that the rest of my life is something that we can, you know, talk about and think about and not dismiss.

- She has to do like PET scans and a lot of things, like sometimes blood draws and stuff like that.

- Advances in science technology and research are not only helping us understand more about cancer, but also leading to treatments and better outcomes for patients like Jenn.

- [Jenn] I gave myself 24 hours to be worried, to be scared, to be sad, to be angry.

And then I just decided that a positive mindset and staying active and healthy was gonna help me in my treatment and recovery.

So I've been doing that and I've been getting clear scans since March of 2021.

- [David] Clark Hodge who's the head of "Chase the Music" and I have been friends for a number of years and from time to time we would say, "Let's collaborate on something."

And it never was the right time.

And then he called me up and said, "I have something that I think you would be the right person for, let's talk about it."

And I immediately took to the theme of the project and the mission of the project and I was on board.

Piccolo measure 21 B3 that should be an F, not a G flat.

- I talk about it being, we're putting together a puzzle and so we have a number of pieces of the puzzle.

- Could we try to make it a little bit quieter at the same tempo, ta ta ta tada, like lighter?

- So with Jennifer's piece, it started with Jennifer.

We learned about Jennifer and her cancer and she's got three kids, but not only does she have three kids that she's supporting going through this, she's also got a whole classroom full of band students.

So these kids are going through this cancer journey with her and now we've realized we've got who we wanna perform for.

We also realize that the band would be the perfect performers.

Her band, because they're emotionally engaged.

The tighter the puzzle pieces fit together, the better.

David Wohl, he just fit perfectly.

He does this style of music, he's done a lot of bigger productions and it just fits perfect.

- I got to work and getting to work means getting to the piano, or taking a walk and just kinda thinking about the spirit of the work and what is the basic pulse.

What's the, yeah, what's the feeling of the piece?

And so I knew I wanted something heroic as the main theme and here's the theme that I rejected.

[laughs] But I wrote it down and I worked it out and everything but just here's just a little bit of it.

1, 2, 3.

(light piano music) And it was gonna be really cool and it is gonna be something like that.

And I thought that's just too square, dum, dull, three, four.

And I just thought that was just too square.

So I kind of settled on pretty quickly a feeling of three and there was a, which means three beats to a measure which means 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 and that kind of thing.

And I was working on another piece for a show of mine and that theme that I had rejected in that piece came back to mind for this work and this is what I came up with.

(solemn piano music) So once I committed to that then everything else made sense.

- Our first interaction with David was just a phone call.

We talked about strengths, weaknesses in the ensemble.

We talked about just my personal experience and what I wanted an audience to get out of this piece of music.

It was a lengthy conversation.

I feel like we were on the phone for maybe an hour, hour and a half.

After that it's just details, kind of getting a first draft of the piece, going back and forth.

- The work starts with the heroic theme and then sections of different moods and challenges and adversaries in life if you will.

And how the pulse of the theme kind of pushes through or works around, or just takes it on and says, "I'm gonna carry you forward anyway."

That kind of thing.

I'm also thinking about how I want every part of the ensemble to have their moment to shine.

So the flutes, or the woodwinds, or the saxophones, or the horns and the trombones, the percussion.

Everybody will have a moment to shine and then they all come back together at the very end of the piece as one united ensemble, which is what I felt would represent Jennifer's journey and her daily commitment to being strong and finding meaning and truth in every day of her life.

(soft flute music) - Here we go, 83, 1, 2, ready and.

- The music is hard.

(laughing) So today it's going to be hanging on for dear life for probably me and the musicians.

- Before today's rehearsal, like we looked at the piece and we were like, "Oh God."

Because it's very tough and you know we're in the lower band.

But it is nice to feel it kinda coming together more and especially be able to hear how it really should sound with all the parts.

- Three, one and two.

- [Macleay] It was a little bit of a rough start.

but it was a fun start and it was fun for the first time to hear it with a full instrumentation.

- [Abby] I play alto sax and there are some soloistic things in there that I, you know, I'm in jazz as well to solo.

It's very saxophone thing.

It was super fun today, was sort of the first time that I've played it with when ensemble and concert band in total.

So it's always fun to see a piece of music like that really come together when you've been practicing it individually.

- Beat 1, that's it.

Put a G eighth note on the downbeat of 173 please.

Trombone 2, measure 147.

I wanted to create a piece for the students who would be performing this that would be both enjoyable and challenging, but challenging and doable.

So something that they would aspire to do.

You know, maybe a little bit above what they're used to playing but not beyond their skillset.

Kinda like what Jenn is doing in her life.

I changed one note but today I won't worry about it.

- [Jenn] Okay.

(laughing) - It's unique that students are able to interact with this piece and a living composer and that it's just so personal and the idea that this is a gift to me and hopefully to the audience as well.

I just think it's a unique experience for all of us to be involved in.

- She's been teaching me ever since I was in sixth grade and she's just great.

She's great at making the music come together and when she does it just sounds wonderful and getting to do this with the concert band combined it's like such a nice project to be a part of.

- [Aspen] Ms. Dunn was my very first ever band teacher.

I had her in fifth grade.

Ms. Dunn's really inspired me to keep playing the saxophone 'cause in sixth grade I was like, "I'm done, never playing again."

And then she's like, "Just keep trying."

And she really helped me with that.

And Ms. Dunn means a lot to me.

She's definitely guided me to where I am today.

- Ms. Dunn has really impacted me because she was the one that helped me get into wind ensemble by making me like a better musician.

- [Jenn] Again, two, ready and go.

One more time, go.

- I think probably the part I'm looking forward to the most is when it all starts to like come together.

I'to the concertard when we're finally I have it all be under control, yeah.

- I knew it was their first read as the entire ensemble and we've done this enough times and especially with junior high school and high school bands oftentimes the first read is unrecognizable from what it's supposed to be and it's always really scary for me.

And today it's like, oh my gosh, these guys have it.

They've been rehearsing it on their own.

They've been practicing in sectionals and as individuals and they're taking it really seriously and it's gonna be beautiful.

(mellow band music) (band music continues) - It is coming together and the kids are sounding really nice.

(upbeat music) - Hope for tomorrow, strength today, love from others and joy in self.

Hi, I'm Clark Hodge with Chase the Music and Chase The Music's an organization that brings children battling critical conditions, hope, strength, love, and joy.

We do this with original music composed and perform for these kids.

Tonight I'm excited to introduce a brand new piece that will be world premiering called Triumph.

Several years ago you may know Jennifer beat breast cancer and unfortunately last year it came back with a vengeance and she's fighting it now and Jennifer's gonna triumph.

(audience applause) - I wasn't going to speak and I'm not going to make it too long.

But when I looked at the flute part the original intent was for me to play the ending cadenza and I looked at it and that was way outside of my skill level in year 22 of teaching.

So I asked a very special student teacher who actually did one day in person with me before Covid hit, Liz Richardson to come in and play the flute part.

And I'd like to introduce her as our soloist tonight.

(audience applause) - So just a reminder in the five eight, it's not that fast.

(Jenn laughing) (flute music) (band music) - It was really cool to see something we talked about and something we sort of shared in a bit of the story.

And I think the name "Triumph" is just really fitting.

- It's just a very amazing thing to see this piece of music that really symbolizes her journey.

We get to play something for Ms Dunn and give back to her what she's given to us.

- I feel incredibly honored to be playing this piece and for her to have trusted us to play this piece like this has all come together just for Ms Dunn.

'Cause I know she means a lot to a lot of us.

- We've put so much time and effort into such a awesome project and then it all comes together in the end.

That's such a great feeling.

- [Sravanti] No matter what kind of hardships you're going through in your life, if you have the grit, the determination, I think you can achieve what all you want.

That's what I think Jenn is teaching all of us through her cancer journey.

- It's just an amazing gift.

There's no greater gift to a musician than the gift of music.

I'm humbled and honored to be a part of it.

(dramatic band music) (audience applause)