In 2005 I was invited to write a film score for a proposed documentary about the American naturalist and artist, John James Audubon. I set about trying to find musical expressions that would evoke with what I imagined might be the images such a film would offer. There would be close-up shots of Audubon’s paintings but also live-action shots of birds, perhaps rising from wetlands or flying in V formation. There would be shots suggesting the vast American wilderness Audubon knew so well and of course some portraits of Audubon himself, suggesting his energy and idealism. I developed these musical ideas only to learn that my involvement in the film project was not going to materialize. Another composer was selected.

Meanwhile, my friend, clarinetist Joe Rosen, had been pestering me to write a wind octet which he could premiere with his friends at Canada’s WindFest. So I simply poured my ideas for the Audubon film score into the writing of a new wind octet. It turned out that Joe is a birder and a great admirer of Audubon.

I named the octet, simply: "Audubon" a musical portrait of an important American artist. The work was premiered at the WindFest in Waterloo, Ontario on June 11, 2006.