Bentz: Puzzle Box

Composer: Nicholas Bentz (1994-) Instrumentation: Concert Band Work: Puzzle Box Binding: Pages: None Description Some of my earliest memories are of intricate boxes. My father, a furniture maker, often restores antique pieces, and I remember being fascinated by wardrobes and desks that had secret drawers and spaces. These are often only accessible by putting one's hands in the right spot with the right pressure, a type of haptic code. in writing Puzzle Box, I wanted to create a work that pays homage to these beautifully compact pieces, where one has to explore around an object and test it in various ways until a hidden passageway opens. Puzzle Box was written for the Cabrillo Festival as part of the 2024 Conductors / Composers Workshop and is dedicated to my father.