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Cairns

Much like the structures that can be found in the wilderness as natural formations, trail milestone markers, burial markers, or intentionally stacked piles of rocks, "Cairns" explores continuously moving melodic lines that build upward and downward, stepwise, and into “stacking” chords, only to “fall apart” in a scalar fashion until nothing remains but a single note. Commissioned by Austin Classical Guitar for the sight-reading portion of their annual 2025 Large Guitar Ensemble Concert and Sight Reading Contest, "Cairns" was composed for three guitar parts and designed for the "Level 5 - Conference 5A" sight-reading level, which is structured after the UIL competition tiers. It is now part of the ACG GuitarCurriculum catalogue of pieces that can be found, performed, and sight-read year round.

"Cairns" was inspired by the numerous intentionally stacked structures that continually appear on the hiking trails around us. Though their purpose has changed from helpful and navigational, we see them now more than ever before for aesthetic, recreational, and camera-ready reasons. Enviornmentalists and scientists have warned this practice, and the movement of rocks in general, can be harmful to the environment, local ecosystems, and the habitats of different species of insects, animals, and reptiles. Hence, the careful dismantling of cairns in both nature and the unwinding ending of a simple piece.

For more information on cairns, please visit the Leave No Trace's article on cairns These Impacts Are Stacking Up!, and the National Park Service's article on cairns by clicking here.  

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