Carl A. Johnson composed Riverwalk in 1989, as a senior music composition major, in memory of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103. Commissioned by the marching band fraternity and sorority, the piece premiered on November 15th, 1989 for its one and only performance. In the spring of 2019, while conducting archival research for the Remembrance Scholarship, I stumbled across the composition at the Special Collections Research Center and became immediately attached to it. I chose to further explore the historically significant impact of Riverwalk throughout the remainder of 2019 as part of my distinction project in music history and cultures. My work eventually led to the wind ensemble including Riverwalk in their fall semester concert repertoire. A premier of the composition was scheduled on November 19th, 2019, four days after its 30th anniversary. However, due to November’s bias related incidents, the scheduled performance was cancelled. In light of these events, I felt that more could be done to preserve this piece. Using Finale, a digital music notation software, I have digitized, transcribed, and edited Riverwalk’s score, and made this musical composition readable for modern audiences.

Links to Project Materials:

Additional support provided by: HASTAC Fellowship

Humanities Projects 2020, School of Information Studies 2020, 2020