Program Notes

Growing up in Houston, Texas, I was quickly exposed to and grew to love American football. Everything in Texas revolves around football. One of the great joys in my childhood was running around and playing catch with my friends, or arguing about whose team was better. Even as music entered my life more prominently in middle school when I began to play the French horn, I still believed football was an equal part of my life and I joined the football team. The next three years I was caught between these two things, but I ultimately left football for music. This love of football never went away though, and I still watch the sport—among others—regularly today.

A moment in football I always enjoy is when a field goal kicker hits the yellow uprights with the ball during a field goal kick. When this happens, the ball bounces off the upright and it makes a loud shaky thud, affectionately refered to as a "doink". When this happens, neutral fans cheer wildly as it is a sort of rare occurance and it is quite funny. During the first year of my undergrad, something incredible happened. In a Wild Card Playoff Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears, the Bears had an opportunity to kick a game winning field goal. The score was 16-15 in favor of the Eagles and there were mere seconds left, time for one final play. Unfortunately for the Bears, the kick would doink off of not just the upright, but the crossbar as well, falling disappointingly to the ground. The Bears season ended, and the Eagles would lose their next game to the New Orleans Saints, but the game would live forever as the "Double Doink Game".

Two things have always struck me about this particular moment: 1) the great buildup and anticipation for a field goal kick. The kicker literally has one job: to kick field goals. They don't catch, or run, or throw, yet a team's season can come down to one single kick. Many kickers don't even grow up playing football, but rather come over from other sports like Australian Football or Soccer (Football), yet they are perhaps the most important position on the team. The build up to a field goal can be intense, and sometimes coaches will "ice" the kicker by calling a timeout just before a kick to force them to think about the kick longer and psych them out. These field goals can end in either great joy or devastation, as in the Bear's case. 2) The sound of a doink is like nothing else. It is a rather deep reverberating sound that can sometimes be made even louder or noisy depending on how close to the mic the ball hits. This piece is about these two things. The great build up and ultimate failure of a field goal and the sonic properties of the sound. 

Performances

April 12, 2026 Frederick Loewe Theater, New York University, Manhattan, NY. Dither.