Celebrate the excitement of the Summer and the Olympic Games with this energetic work by Katie O'Hara LaBrie. This piece bursts with joy through celebratory melodies and accented motor rhythms, while hints of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy theme bring the piece and the players together as one.

Program Notes:

Overjoyed was inspired by the glory and unifying nature of the Summer Olympics Games. The piece is full of energy from start to finish. The fast tempo and accented rhythms propel the piece forward, while later a calmer melody represents the solemnity and importance of coming together for these global events. Hidden throughout the piece are snippets of Beethoven’s 9th symphony, specifically the famous “Ode to Joy” theme, which over history has been used as a unifying theme among people of the world, even at the Olympic Games themselves. The apex of the piece occurs at the key change from D major to G major when the Ode to Joy theme is finally presented in its full glory, though rhythmically modified, on top of the original celebratory theme of the work. This piece was written for the 2023 Vienna Summer Strings camp as they explored a summer where “music unites us.”

- Katie O’Hara LaBrie