UGA Wind Ensemble: Meditations - Pete Meechan

"Meditations" for Solo Cello and Chamber Winds (2023) (24')
Composer: Pete Meechan (b.1980)
Soloist: Dr. James Kim
Ensemble: University of Georgia Wind Ensemble
Conductor: Dr. Nicholas E. Williams
Performance Date: October 23, 2025

Act i: Slow Ripple Across Time 0:19
Act ii: Through Mist 7:40
Act iii: Mystical and Magical 16:07


During a particularly bad episode of depression, I couldn’t compose. I simply couldn’t write, didn’t have any ideas to write with, and because of all of that I didn’t want to compose. Worse still was that I didn’t know if I would be able to compose again. I certainly felt as though it was a real possibility that I wouldn’t compose again (or at least, compose anything I considered of any value), and the idea that I wouldn’t be able to compose again only made the depression worse. I don’t ever remember a time when I didn’t compose and the thought that I wouldn’t be able to led to what felt like a never ending cycle that was diminishing my health at an almost-hourly basis.

Time became a strange construct in my life – on one hand it was impossible to tell one day from another, or if an event (a phone call, seeing a friend, etc.) had happened today, yesterday, or last week. On the other hand, I knew that there was a deadline for this commission (it turns out that even when time ceases to function in a normal way your brain can still sense an impending deadline!).

As the days passed, I spent a lot of time focusing on the idea of time and how we perceive it. It led to me considering how we view and perceive time in music. Gradually, little by little, I started to realize that this thought process was something I had to write; the very thing that had caused me to think there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to compose again became the very thing that was now helping me to composer again.

As this happened, I began to get a little better. Ideas of value started presenting themselves again, and I could – for the first time in what felt like a very long time – see through the mist. This process became meditative and, within that, also became spiritual.

I don’t think time will ever feel quite the same to me again, and I’ve embraced that whilst in the process of continual healing. Meditations is the result of my continuing journey of time and of spirituality, and a journey of healing and discovery.

Meditations is dedicated to my dear friend, Joe Parisi.

– Pete Meechan, April 2023

About the composer.

The music of Canadian-British composer Peter Meechan (b. 1980, Nuneaton, UK) is extensively performed throughout the world. His music has been commissioned, recorded, broadcast and performed by some of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, brass bands, conductors and soloists, including: “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, The United States Air Force Band, The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra brass, The Dallas Winds, Black Dyke Brass Band, The Band of the Coldstream Guards, RNCM Wind Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey, Jens Lindemann, Ryan Anthony, David Childs, Steven Mead, Patrick Sheridan, Les Neish, Peter Moore, Linda Merrick, and many more.

Meechan’s music is featured on over 130 commercial recordings and has been featured at festivals and clinics globally, including the Midwest Clinic, The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) Conference, CBDNA, the International Trumpet Guild, the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, BASBWE conferences, and in 2014 his work “The Legend of King Arthur” was used as the set test piece at the British National Brass Band Championships, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London. His works for brass band have been used as compulsory and own choice selections at music contests across the world.

Peter was the first ever “Young Composer in Association” with the prestigious Black Dyke Brass band from 2003 – 2006, where he also went on to serve as their “Composer in Residence” for a further season. Meechan also held the position of “Composer in Residence” with The Band of the Coldstream Guards between 2012 – 2015.

He holds an undergraduate degree (BMus Hons) from the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, UK), where he studied with Dr. Anthony Gilbert, Dr. David Horne and Adam Gorb, a Master of Arts (MA) degree and a PhD (composition), both from the University of Salford (Manchester, UK), where he studied with Prof. Peter Graham.

Peter resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with his wife Michelle (a band teacher) and their miniature dachshund dogs: Stevie and Jurgen (not band teachers), and when not writing music can usually be found watching his beloved Liverpool Football Club.