Commissioned by Michael Nowicki and Phyllis Bishop

for David Nowicki on his 13th Birthday

In February 2009 I was asked by Mike Nowicki to write a cello and piano piece for his son who was going to have the honor of turning thirteen come November.

While brainstorming certain titles a thirteen-year-old boy would like, I initially came up with nothing, but obtaining some suggestions (like “Laser Velociraptors and the Exploding Ninjas of DOOM”), I whittled it down to “88 Exploding Ninjas.”

What’s the 88 for? This does not represent the 88 keys on the piano. Please. I used an octatonic scale, but more importantly, this title is in reference to The Crazy 88, the group of assassins who were employed to help O-Ren take control of the Tokyo underworld.

The Crazy 88 does not actually have 88 members, but 48 members; Bill speculates that they adopted the name because it “sounded cool.”

For those who are clueless as to what I’m referring to, please click this link now.