Chrysomyxa arctosphyli is a parasitic fungus that causes spruce broom rust on black and white spruce. It spends part of its life as the broom growth on a spruce, and part of its life on the leaves of bearberry. This system of three organisms is found along the Ninth avenue trail, particularly as one approaches Crocus Bluff. These are the three organisms incorporated into my piece.

This visual score ties these three organisms together, with a musical movement from the spruce tree, the bear berry and the Chrysomyxa arctosphyli in its airborne state, and movements for them in their combinations. These are represented on a water-coloured expression of the fungus, the tree and the berry.

The score follows in line with my New Thoughts on Marching Bands series. The scores in the New Thoughts on Marching Bands series tie music to locations, telling a story of each place and being inseparable from that geography. The scores are written on a map instead of on  a traditional staff. The map gives notes, simple melodic patterns and ideas through both traditional demarcation and the use of graphic elements. This piece is not a map, but a visual representation of the Chrysomyxa arctosphyli’s life cycle in the context of the Ninth Avenue Trail.