Composer
details forthcoming*this work has not yet been completed Program Notes Recording Special Performance Requirements Audio Guide Premiere/Performances This concerto will be premiered in the UK (ensemble and soloist TBA) in Fall 2028. Press/Reviews
Program Notes The word vishwas (विशवास) expresses the concept of fervent belief, or faith, in Hindi. Meera Bai, a celebrated saint-poet from 15th century India, is the quintessential embodiment of vishwas. Though she is forced into a traditional marriage to unite two kingdoms, she believes she is married to the Lord Krishna, a Hindu deity, … Read more
Program Notes (original program notes from 2013) When I was first asked to write a piece based upon Indian folksong, I cast a wide net for source material, listening to everything from Bengali Bauls to Rajasthani folk singing. However, the material I felt most connected to in the end didn’t come to me from a … Read more
Program Notes In its original version, RE|Member is a wildly colorful overture for orchestra, sandwiched between two plaintive solos for oboe. In the opening solo, a recorded oboist on a screen plays alone in her living room, and at the end of the overture, the onscreen oboist returns to play a duet — with the … Read more
(*this work was originally written for cello) Program Notes Varsha was written for the Haydn Seven Last Words project, for Juilliard415. The project commissioned seven composers (including Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Jessica Meyer, Tania Leon, Caroline Shaw and Colin Jacobsen) to write interludes between each of the Haydn quartets. This piece, Varsha, serves as an … Read more
Program Notes In Hindustani music, Malhaar(p/d) refers to a family of raags that beckon rain. As the legend goes, the greatest musicians could cause a downpour from even the most severely parched skies by the power of their song. This is the inspiration for Malhaar: A Requiem for Water. As drought worsened in Southern California, … Read more
Program Notes This version of Rosa de Sal for trumpet and orchestra is an arrangement of my original setting for soprano and piano of Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet 17 in the original Spanish. It conjures up the dark, evocative language of Neruda, that touches on the unspoken and unnamable aspects of love, using the constantly shifting … Read more
Program Notes Sandhiprakash(p/d), meaning ‘the joining of light’, is the term for a particular set of Hindustani raags that are performed at the moments of sunrise and sunset. In this piece for unaccompanied cello, the focus is on morning sandhiprakash raags Bhairav, Ahir Bhairav and Vibhas. I’m so struck by how differently the concept of … Read more
Program Notes Pranayam is a suite of short encounters with different types of active breath. The word pranayam literally describes ‘a harnessing of the life force’. Each movement is based on a specific breath pattern commonly used in yoga practice. Dirgh is a three-part inhale, expanding the belly, diaphragm and chest in succession. Kapalbhati is … Read more
Program Notes I wrote this sonata at the beginning of 2022, as we began to find our way back to one another in-person, after years of separation and isolation during the pandemic. In this time of reconnection, there was so much to catch up on, so much to say — and yet I was struck … Read more
Program Notes This Violin Concerto explores the ancient concept of the Five Elements (space, air, fire, water and earth), through the modern lens of climate change. Each of these elements can be so uniquely beautiful and awe-inspiring when they are in balance with one another — and yet when they are out of balance, they … Read more
Program Notes (from the bassoon version of Zinfandel) One of the very first pieces of music I ever wrote was a flute solo called Chardonnay, in 2000. Ten years later, when the commission came for this piece, it was with the stipulation that it be called Zinfandel. At this rate, I’m hoping to write one … Read more