Monica Chew, Zoom Gloom by Monica Chew

Audrey Q. Snyder (http://audreyqsnyder.com/), cello
Monica Chew, composer

I wrote Zoom Gloom as part of #GLFCAMGigThruCovid, an artist relief fund started by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music to provide support for performers who lost work due to the pandemic. Just as I am learning to appreciate the tiny joys in life, I am learning to appreciate the minor annoyances as well. Since March I’ve spent about countless hours in Zoom calls and concerts, and doing tech support for the same. I created the audio track from found and solicited voice samples to capture the sense of confusion and comedy that often accompanies these calls, and also the sense of gratitude that I feel for a communication medium that, despite its imperfections, lets us connect in the only safe way we can. In keeping with the theme of communicating from afar, I also wrote the cello part to allow multiple players to play from the same score, at slightly different times.

You can see all of the works commissioned by #GLFCAMGigThruCovid here: https://www.glfcam.com/covid-series-calendar