BCO to premiere symphony composed by one of its own

On Sunday, the Buffalo Community Orchestra will perform “Journey Home.” The concert opens with the Peer Gynt Suite, which tells the story of Peer Gynt, a Norwegian folk hero. The concert will close with the premiere performance of A Paddler’s Symphony, composed by BCO member Sarah Kremer. Inspired by a love of nature and canoeing, the piece will take the audience on a paddler’s journey through the musical performance of the orchestra.  

Kremer, who grew up in St. Cloud, was first introduced to canoeing through a cross-country team event. 

“I got into canoeing through joining my cross-country team. We always had a weekend bonding event at the beginning of our season near Quetico. That was my first experience in canoes. After our runs, we would daytrip into the Boundary Waters and have fun with that.”

Through a program affiliated with Cathedral High School, Les Voyageurs Inc. offered month-long canoe trips for high school aged students, and Kremer was all in.  

“I took my first one when I was 17. I had never been on a canoe trip before and jumped right into a month-long trip. I loved it so much I went back for their second-year trip, which took us from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay.”

The following summer, Kremer applied to work as a guide for Laketrails Base Camp, an organization near Lake of the Woods, which provides canoe and wilderness trips for youth and teens. Kremer guided for several years, eventually becoming the program director during the summer of 2023.”

Kremer’s experiences served as inspiration for writing music. The third movement of A Paddler’s Symphony is titled “Lake of the Woods,” where Kremer captures the feel of the Northwoods through musical performance. 

“This movement begins with a sunny clear morning of paddling, as the day progresses, it portrays the feeling of suddenly being swept by a thunderstorm on trail. Weather on Lake of the Woods can change on a dime, so I wanted to capture the experience of having a storm sneak up on you while paddling, those moments hunkered down under a tarp, or just trying to capture the feel of a thunderstorm, with lightning, sheets of rain, and wind whipping the sides of the tent. I also tried to acknowledge the history of the lake with nods to the fur trade and musicality of the Voyageurs. As the movement closes, one can hear echoes and fragments inspired by “En roulant ma boule,” a voyageur paddling song passed around the orchestra.”

To compose an entire symphony, Kremer compiled music for all orchestra instruments. 

“When I’m compiling the files for strings, woodwinds, and brass, there’s easily 40 parts per movement. I had to do the notation for every single instrument in the symphony.”

For those with a musical aptitude, inspiration often comes from a melody playing softly in the background of the artist’s mind. 

“I have so many songs in my head when in the silence of paddling,” shared Kremer. “There’s so much music from nature that happens even when it’s silent and I’m just listening. That’s how this whole symphony started. I began capturing melodies and humming the ideas. I used them as a reference point when I decided to sit down and start writing.”

Kremer equates various animal calls and sounds of nature with instruments in the orchestra. 

“There’s a bird called the white-throated sparrow that you hear up north all the time. I wrote it in the fourth movement, to the piccolo, with the actual notated bird calls and their rhythms. With the white-throated sparrow, it sounded to me like a bunch of little piccolos in the forest.”

Music also plays a huge role in Kremer’s life beyond writing and composing. She currently teaches band and orchestra at both the elementary and high school level, instructing students at St. Cloud area schools, including her alma mater, Cathedral High School.

“It’s very meaningful to give back to the community and enrich the students in music.” 

Kremer began her teaching career in Monticello before eventually returning to her roots at Cathedral. Kremer credits her time in Monticello with becoming affiliated with the Buffalo Community Orchestra, where she’s performed since 2016, and has also served on the board. 

“It is so great to have an orchestra in our community that can tackle a hard repertoire and put on magical performances for our community.”

Kremer has worked on A Paddler’s Symphony for approximately six years, accumulating thousands of hours writing, editing, and composing. 

The BCO’s performance on March 1 will mark a milestone accomplishment in the musical career of Sarah Kremer. While she plans to celebrate the achievement, she also hints at the possibility of future projects.

“It’s been wild, but exciting and beautiful at the same time. There’s a lot of music in me. I think there is more to come.”