The ensemble piece “Death of The Pugilist: Or, the famous battle of Jacob Burke & Blindman McGraw” is based on contemporary American novelist Daniel Mason’s short story. Set on the quayside docks amid the squalor of working-class life in 1820’s England, the narrative follows a young man as he comes of age in a rough-and-tumble profession, with music weaving the rich layers of emotional tapestry and humanity. The ensemble includes a narrator and four other musicians, each a wonderfully eclectic individual steeped in a wide array of musical traditions. Drawing from the musical elements of contrapuntal Bach, minimalistic Philip Glass, blues and Irish folk music, the production creates an experience of story and music that is deeply moving and truly unique.

Death of The Pugilist was premiered in the summer of 2008 at Gros Morne Summer Music in Newfoundland, broadcast live by CBC Radio 2. The author Daniel Mason called the piece “absolutely beautiful and so stunningly paced with the story.” The production made its US premier with Sounds of Lyons Music Festival in 2009, and subsequently re-envisioned with the current ensemble in 2021 as part of the inaugural Garden Music Series in Carbondale, Colorado.