Bobo-Closer (SP)-M/Steel Drum

The Closer was composed during the fall of 2019 and is dedicated to steel pan virtuoso Liam Teague. Written with the intention of being the closing piece for a performance at the 2020 Percussive Arts Society International Convention, I had completed the work but had not titled it when the application to perform at the convention was due. I simply listed it as The Closer in the application. When the pandemic of 2020 struck and the whole world had to make adjustments, the PASIC concert got moved to the fall of 2021. Throughout the lockdown, my views on many things changed. Our guest room became a home office and our dining room became a music room. We learned to homeschool our children and became unusually good cooks. Just as functionality took the place of aesthetic in our lives, so the function of this piece and its place in the PASIC performance overtook the need for an artistic title. In many ways it is ironic that this piece is titled The Closer. Yes, it is meant to be a literal "closer" of concerts, but it also carries with it my optimism that the events of that last two years will soon come to a "close" and be far behind us.

- Kevin Bobo, September 2021

• Number of players: 2
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Instrumentation:
• Player 1: Lead pan
• Player 2: Marimba (5 octave)