for 3 Flute and Alto Flute

Approximately 6 minutes and 30 seconds

[happy]. was written Summer 2023 as a part of Quokka, inspired by the always-smiling trait of the quokka animal that make it “the happiest animal on Earth”. Although the cute animal may bring happiness to many, it is not smiling of joy, but rather survival. Smiling, for quokkas, is a survival mechanism to induce panting in the immense heat of Australia. Similar to a fool in medieval times, the joy brought to many veils the harshness of conditions.

The audience should listen for a continual presence of satire and irony, and hopefully walk away with a cool new fact in tow about quokkas as well as new thoughts about how things may not always be as simple as they appear.