In composing Possible Sky, Monk made several visits to Miami to work with the musicians in developing the piece. She described this process in the score program notes, writing:
Since exploring and extending possibilities for the voice is the heart of my work, I asked the musicians to share the extended techniques for their instruments that they were aware of as well as find new sounds during the session. I sang phrases so that they could try playing them on their instruments in an unaccustomed way. We also experimented with sketches of material which I had composed in New York. Some of the fruit of those sessions has found its way into Possible Sky.
Monk added:
The interaction with these young musicians was playful and rewarding. This exchange is unusual in the orchestra world where players usually read and interpret a finished score. The concept of this project proposed by Michael Tilson Thomas with the encouragement and support of R. Kurt Landon was to offer the musicians a chance to experience in a very direct way the creation of a new work.[1]
When Monk was named the 2012 Composer of the Year by Musical America, the Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed gave special praise to Possible Sky, writing, "arresting Monkian melodies, bittersweet and inexplicable but somehow immediate, percolate through the orchestra." He added, "Even more startling, though, is the physicality. Orchestra musicians, bolstered by members of Monk's ensemble, sound as though they, too, make music from their bodies rather than merely following the directions of notes on a page."[4]