Ethan Hayden

"The grift has a gentle touch. It takes its toll from the verdant sucker by means of the skilled hand or the sharp wit. In this, it differs from all other forms of crime, and especially from the heavy-rackets. It never employs violence to separate the mark from his money. Of all the grifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat."

- David Maurer, The Big Con

Monte is the ﬁrst in a series of game pieces based on classic conﬁdence tricks and swindles called The Big Con. Modeled after the Three-card Monte grift, the piece was composed for and is dedicated to the new music collective, Wooden Cities.

Instrumentation:	seven or more players of any instruments
Date:	fall 2012
Length:	unspecified
Premiere:	14 December 2012 Wooden Cities Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center Buffalo, NY
Program Note:	"The grift has a gentle touch. It takes its toll from the verdant sucker by means of the skilled hand or the sharp wit. In this, it differs from all other forms of crime, and especially from the heavy-rackets. It never employs violence to separate the mark from his money. Of all the grifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat." - David Maurer, The Big Con Monte is the ﬁrst in a series of game pieces based on classic conﬁdence tricks and swindles called The Big Con. Modeled after the Three-card Monte grift, the piece was composed for and is dedicated to the new music collective, Wooden Cities.