In early 2015, I was approached by Joshua Ganger – then a doctoral trumpet candidate at Michigan State University – to compose a concerto for piccolo trumpet and wind ensemble. The commission would serve as his dissertation for his doctoral degree. The commission is unique in several ways: first, that it is the brainchild of a college student; second, that it is a modern concerto for the piccolo trumpet (an instrument most known for its florid use in the Baroque era); and third, that it would...