Catalog Category: SATB Choir (only)

If the River Leaves Without Me (SATB)

Program Notes Something that looks brave on the outside doesn’t always feel brave on the inside.  Sometimes what that feels right to us on the inside can separate us from the flow of everyone and everything around us. And yet, we are still compelled to take that first step away from the familiar, well-trodden path … Read more

Dhire Dhire (version for SATB)

Program Notes I am constantly drawn to the ‘dohe’ (couplets) of Kabir. His statements are pithy but their meanings are vast. They have been set and sung for hundreds of years in the Hindustani classical tradition, and they seem to meet each generation of performers and listeners in a unique way.  This tiny couplet is … Read more

Trust the Ballot

Program Notes We say the word “suffrage” when discussing voting rights, but do we know what it means? The word has roots in late Middle English and Latin, meaning “intercessory prayer,” the kind of prayer one offers on behalf of another. Trust the Ballot explores this connection, understanding that when we vote we don’t just voice our … Read more

The Love of Thousands (SATB version)

Program Notes This is one of those stories that has the aura of a myth, but sometimes these little miracles happen to each of us. One afternoon in the summer of 2018, I was at the Corona Institute for Women, a women’s jail just outside of Los Angeles doing a concert of some of my … Read more

Sunāō (सुनाऔ)

Program Notes Sunaao is a set of three pieces designed to introduce young choirs to the Hindi/Urdu language. Aao beckons us to share our musical traditions with one another, exploring changing open vowels. Khattar Pattar uses a distinctive style of Hindi/Urdu onomatopoeia to describe how we sometimes let our thoughts run out of control. Behta … Read more

Jahaaṅ

Program Notes Jahaaṅ translates roughly to, “the place where…” It is this sense of both distance and possibility that I wanted to convey in these arrangements of folk songs from different states and languages within India. Each of these songs touches on the feeling of ‘home’ in a different way. Mor Bani Thanghat Kare (Gujarati) … Read more

Man tu shudam, tu man shudi

Program Notes Thirteenth century Sufi musician and poet Amir Khusro wrote the beautiful verse which inspired this piece. I set the piece with the energy of first love — the first time we encounter a person to whom we feel completely inseparable. But the opposite circumstance is important too: as humans we are so related … Read more

We Are Love

Program Notes original text by Melissa Studdard (all info coming soon) Recording (see video above) Text View/download the full text of We Are Love here: Special Performance Requirements We Are Love is a work designed for two types of choirs to perform together: a regular SATB chorus and a community chorus. While the community part … Read more

A Winter Breviary

Program Notes I. We Look for You (Evensong – Raag Hamsadhwani)II. The Year’s Midnight (Matins – Raag Malkauns)III. The Unexpected Early Hour (Lauds – Raag Ahir Bhairav) This set of three carols, on new texts by poet Rebecca Gayle Howell, traces a journey through the solstice, the longest night of the year. The texts follow … Read more

Quarantine Madrigals

Program Notes Every restraint is an opportunity for a composer. During the pandemic, I thought about what it meant for choral singers, who are used to the feeling of singing together, to be isolated. What follows is a set of short, two-minute madrigals (yes, the title is a play on ‘florentine madrigal’) that trace the … Read more

TaReKiTa

Program Notes I wrote TaReKiTa as a gift for a choir called Urban Voices Project. They are a choir of people who are currently or have recently experienced homelessness on Skid Row in Los Angeles. They are so dear to me, and one day I just decided to teach them about Indian rhythm. They enjoyed … Read more