Monk’s Oboe for oboe and string quartet is an homage to Thelonious Monk, one of my heroes. The piece resulted from a fireside conversation at Interlochen Academy where oboist Jared Hauser and I were roasting marshmallows and talking about jazz. Though both of us are classified as classical musicians, we are really American musicians, a different kind of bird. We decided to express ourselves by creating a new composition. — Libby Larsen