Arc of the Storm was commissioned by the Lufkin Road Middle School Band in Apex, North Carolina, under the direction of Ryan M. Wing. In celebrating the school’s 25th anniversary, I chose to center the piece around their mascot- lightning bolts! Inspired further by the school’s motto, “When Lightning Strikes, Great Things Happen,” I set out to write a work that musically depicts the atmospheric conditions leading to the awe-inspiring spectacle of a lightning storm.