At the Will of Giants by Justin Trujillo

Описание: At the Will of Giants by Justin Trujillo
Performed on October 21, 2025 at Capistrano Hall in Sacramento, CA

Program notes:
At the Will of Giants is a programmatic work for symphony orchestra that follows a narrative I wrote, very loosely based on true events and places from my own life. I say “loosely” because I have not been sacrificed by giants in a secret mountain cave. But I have escaped into nature, woken up in my car far from home, quit a job, and found myself drawn to Mount Shasta.
There are many legends and myths about Mount Shasta and the surrounding area. Aliens, a door to an unknown continent, Bigfoot, and many other stories have found their home in this region of Northern California. The narrative is written from a second-person point of view to help the reader imagine these events taking place in their own life.

Narrative:
The sun has not risen yet. You are in a field near the Sutter Buttes. You car camped and do not remember exactly why you drove all the way out there, but you know you will continue heading north toward Mt. Shasta. As you sit up in your car and open the door, you hear crickets and bugs. You check your watch, but it is not wound, and you don’t know what time it is. Your phone is dead. Time does not matter, but the sun is slowly beginning to rise. A bit of panic starts to set in when you realize it’s Monday and you have work in the morning, but you planned on sending your letter of resignation a while ago and the only thing stopping you from not showing up is your mom’s 80s view of company loyalty and “the right thing to do.”

You decide to say screw the job and start your car, full of anxiety. As you wait for your phone to charge, your car clock, which is ahead by 3 hours and 4 minutes, says it’s 9:46, which means it’s really 6:44 a.m. Your phone gets to 4%, and you anxiously hover over your boss’s contact but decide to block his number and put your phone on Do Not Disturb. You hit the road and begin heading on your adventure up north. Mt. Shasta is calling you. You head north on I-5 and see it clearly in the distance near Corning. As you approach closer to the mountain, you begin feeling its energy.

You reach the base of the mountain and feel a sense of shock. You hear the stomping of giants. You encounter the giants inside the mountain. You only hear them. They are performing a ritual. You soon realize that you are part of their ritual and have been chosen as a sacrifice. You never come to terms with your fate and turn to prayer in this moment despite your lack of faith. Your prayers are not answered.

A search party is sent after no answered phone calls for two days. You open your eyes after a shatter from breaking glass. You find yourself no longer in your mind, but in your car at the base of a mountain.

Personnel
Flutes: Soraya Roman and Kiele Miyata
Oboes: Ethan Pham and Alan Verdin
Clarinets: Mia Kawakami, Garrett Mandujan, and Zephaniah Samuel
Bassoon: Jack Zill
Horns: Christian Orr and Anthony DePage
Trumpets: Abraham Villarreal and Armando Muse
Trombones: Josh Elmore and Zach Michlig
Tuba: Jean Rodriguez
Timpani: Aaron Kitzes
Percussion: Jesse Barba and Luke Shalz
Violins: Nathanial Bacon, A.C. Sullivan, and Kayla Nhuong
Viola: Emily Kurulenko
Cello: Abigail Cooper
Basses: Allison Keller and Jake Fox
Conducted by Justin Trujillo