A composer must consider relationships carefully when writing a concerto. The interaction of the soloist with the orchestra has to be finely crafted in order for the composition to be effective. These considerations become even more complex when dealing with a concerto for one or more soloists. Crosswinds was conceived as a type of electronic double concerto, and thus a great deal of importance was placed on the relationships in this composition.

This composition contains two live flutes and electronics. The live flutes are intended to dialogue with each other, each having equal importance as soloist. The flute lines follow a natural conversational progression, beginning with simple and sparse call-and-response and elaborating to more dense instrumentation. As the piece ends, the dialogue returns to the sparse texture. This symbolizes the course of a spirited debate; as more topics and points get uncovered, the conversation gets more intense.

When working with only live instruments, the composer is limited to the sounds of the instruments in the orchestra and their instrumental roles. With the electronics, however, a whole new world of possibilities is opened up. The composer is no longer restricted by the ranges of the instruments, or even the sounds of the instruments. The possibilities become endless, and this presents the challenge of finding a way to tie the electronics into the piece. The composer must synthesize a natural-sounding relationship instead of using the natural relationships available in the traditional orchestra. The electronics in this composition are intended to enhance and extend the flutes. All of the samples used in the electronics are derived from flute sounds; in this way the sound of the flute unifies the electronic sounds with the natural sound of the live instruments. Crosswinds contains both live and fixed electronics. The live electronics all use real-time flute input to generate their sound and consist of delays, panning and reverb. The fixed electronics consist of granulated and stretched pre-recorded flute samples, which are played back at various pitches to create harmonies and fill the lower frequency space.