Dream Carver: A Story from Oaxaca for Narrator and Small Orchestra 

Notes
Manuel and his father carve jugetes,(small wooden animals) his family sells at the fiestas in Oaxaca.  But Manuel wants to carve much larger animals- goats as pink as bougainvillea with cactus-green speckles, and purple cats with corn-yellow spots.  When he tells his father how he longs to bring these large animals to life, his father only scowls.  But Manuel perseveres, and realizes his dream.  The story is set with narration between the sections of music.  An additional piece El Toro Relajo  (the disturbed bull) is printed separately and should be included in the performance of Dream Carver.  It is the composer’s arrangement for small orchestra of a Mariachi song.