Old Boots

Old Boots is an original stop-motion animated short and live musical score about resilience—what happens when life unexpectedly changes course, and how we choose to move forward.

Told through gently military-inspired imagery, the film follows a small world disrupted by an unforeseen turn of events. Rather than treating adversity as an ending, Old Boots explores adaptation, persistence, and the possibility of finding something positive on the other side of disappointment. The music moves with the film’s mixture of humor, uncertainty, and warmth, giving the work the character of a miniature modern silent film.

The score can be performed independently as a concert work or synchronized live with the original animation, offering ensembles an unusual opportunity to combine chamber music, film, and storytelling in performance.

Old Boots is available in three versions: standard woodwind quintet; woodwind quintet with tenor saxophone in place of horn; and an expanded Harmoniemusik ensemble. The larger version is especially well suited to chamber-wind programming and makes a distinctive contemporary companion to Mozart’s Gran Partita.