Composer
Program Notes A setting of Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet 17 in the original Spanish, this setting matches the dark, evocative language of Neruda with a constantly shifting tonality of Raag Puriya Dhanashree. Recording Text The original poem and translation are available here. Premiere/Performances This piece was commissioned by Nirav Kamdar. Press/Reviews
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
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
Program Notes The first time I heard Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, it changed my life. I was fourteen years old, and as I sat under the stars at the beautiful Ford Theater on a summer night in in Los Angeles with my parents, I completely identified with the voice of the child who … Read more
Program Notes This song for soprano/mezzo, piano and violin was originally the fifth movement of my oratorio, eponymously titled This Love Between Us. The text comes from a variety of translations of ancient saint-poet Kabir’s writings, and from the Isa Upanishad. The original version starts and ends with a duet. The violin line was originally … Read more
Program Notes Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz, at its core, is a piece about sisterhood. Each movement’s short text epitomizes the one of the many facets of having and being a sister. It is also about what sisterhood looks like when expanded beyond a single family or a single culture— when two women, from two different … Read more
Program Notes Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz, at its core, is a piece about sisterhood. Each movement’s short text epitomizes the one of the many facets of having and being a sister. It is also about what sisterhood looks like when expanded beyond a single family or a single culture— when two women, from two different … Read more
Program Notes Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz, at its core, is a piece about sisterhood. Each movement’s short text epitomizes the one of the many facets of having and being a sister. It is also about what sisterhood looks like when expanded beyond a single family or a single culture— when two women, from two different … Read more
NOTE: This is the chamber version of the work — it is scored with no divisi so that as few as four solo singers can sing it. While it can technically be performed with piano (from the piano/vocal score), it works best when accompanied by string quintet, flute and harp. Program Notes The genre of … Read more
SKIP TO INFORMATION ON THIS VERSION Take What You Need is more than just a piece of music. It is a warm, safe, equitable space, where musicians and community can connect with one another, where stories can come forward, and where the foundations of a relationship can be built and nurtured. Bring Take What You … Read more
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 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