About this Piece

beyond the beyond was commissioned for a performance by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at the BBC Proms in August of 2024. The work’s premiere was postponed after Sarah Gibson tragically lost her battle with cancer shortly before the concert. The work was almost finished, and it was completed by Gibson’s friend and colleague Thomas Kotcheff, in accordance with her intentions. Tonight marks its US premiere.

Sarah Gibson wrote:

In September of 2023 I gave birth to my first child. Two weeks later I was diagnosed with a serious illness. A dear friend sent me a supportive email during this time and described what I was going through as “beyond the beyond.” This phrase stuck with me as it captured the specific mix of confidence, hope, pain, fear, and joy that is defining this specific moment in my life and the first months of my son’s life. The piece vacillates among these intense—and sometimes contradictory—emotions before ultimately finding a tranquil, chorale-like space, a space that is inspired by the intimate act of humming to my baby, alone in a quiet room.

—From the estate of Sarah Gibson