Project: Composition of a one movement, fourteen-minute symphonic rhapsody entitled Blue Fire, commissioned by and written for conductor Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony. And a three movement, twenty-five minute Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra, commissioned by and written for cellist Carter Brey, conductor Hugh Wolff and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. The title "Blue Fire" derives from the writings of James Hillman, whose ideas concerning living with rather than resolving emotional complexities and paradox as a means toward self-revelation (particularly the puer/senex relationship) had an impact on the composer's thought. "Blue Fire" employs a large symphonic orchestra. It comprises several sections of sharply contrasting musical character and modes of expression, and synthesizes various musical and extra-musical associations from the sacred to the profane by means of motivic transformation. The cello concerto further develops this way of composing in the naturally more intimate context of an individual (the cellist) and his interaction with all that which surrounds him (the orchestra). During the residence, the music for "Blue Fire" was completed and orchestrated and the principal musical material for the Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra was sketched out. Each piece is scheduled to receive its world premiere in May, 1995, respectively in Seattle, Washington and Saint Paul, Minnesota.