Composer
Program Notes When I lived in India in 2012, I was introduced to the work of Manav Kaul, an incredible Hindi-language playwright, actor and poet living in Mumbai. Hindi is a language that has become increasingly anglicized in its evolution. While there is so much beautiful ancient work in Sanskrit and Brijbasha (some of Hindi’s … Read more
Program Notes Earth Speaks is a large 45-minute choral work that explores different perspectives on our earth through the lens of three Pasadena institutions. It was commissioned by Pasadena Master Chorale in 2015. The first section looks at the earth through the lens of California’s Native Americans. After an exhaustive search for poetry from the Tongva … Read more
Program Notes The word nishani means “keepsake” in Hindi — and this piece was just that. I wrote it on the floor of my empty apartment in New Haven in the weeks before I finally left the East Coast in 2014 to move back to my hometown of Los Angeles. Those thirteen years away from … Read more
Program Notes NOTE: The original version of Jhula Jhule is for violin and piano. This page is for a transcription for cello and piano. Please see sidebar for other versions. When writing this piece, to be based upon Indian folksong, I cast a wide net for source material – I scoured the internet and my … Read more
Program Notes This piece was originally written for violin and piano. These are the program notes for the original work. When writing this piece, to be based upon Indian folksong, I cast a wide net for source material – I scoured the internet and my large collection of Indian music, listening to everything from Bengali … Read more
Program Notes This piece was originally written for violin and piano. These are the program notes for the original work. When writing this piece, to be based upon Indian folksong, I cast a wide net for source material – I scoured the internet and my large collection of Indian music, listening to everything from Bengali … Read more
Program Notes This piece was originally written for violin and piano. These are the program notes for the original work. When writing this piece, to be based upon Indian folksong, I cast a wide net for source material – I scoured the internet and my large collection of Indian music, listening to everything from Bengali … Read more
Program Notes When writing this piece, to be based upon Indian folksong, I cast a wide net for source material – I scoured the internet and my large collection of Indian music, listening to everything from Bengali Bauls, Rajasthani folk singing. I even tried to find songs from Goa and Gujarat, the places my parents … Read more
Program Notes Nadia Anjuman (1980-2005) was a brilliant young Afghan poet whose life was tragically cut short, as she was brutally murdered by her own husband at the age of 25. Many of her poems express her feelings of being censored and unable to say what is in her mind and heart– something she was … Read more
Program Notes Tasveer marks a very special point for me as a composer. During the 2011-2012 year, I was living in India on a Fulbright grant, studying Hindustani classical music. My days there were filled with music, between Hindustani vocal lessons, attending concerts, constantly meeting new musicians and playing with them. I was so busy … Read more
Program Notes Program Notes (Western audience): One of the most fascinating raags I have yet encountered in my study of Hindustani music is Raag Basant. Basant means ‘spring’ in Hindi, but it couldn’t be further from the Western conception of the season. Against a canvas of chirping birds and pastel colors, Basant feels dark and exotic, rendered in bold colors, … Read more
Program Notes One of my very first pieces of music was a solo flute piece called Chardonnay, written 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 a solo woodwind piece every ten years, named … Read more