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

Take What You Need (double choir + string orchestra)

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

Even After All this Time… (SATB only)

NOTE: There are two versions of Even After All This Time — this one is without clarinet. See sidebar for version with clarinet obbligato. Program Notes Even After All This Time… takes its text from a beautiful quote by 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz, in a translation by Daniel Ladinsky. The text of the piece is simply:  Even after all this time,the sun never says to … Read more

Even After All this Time… (with clarinet)

Program Notes Even After All This Time… takes its text from a beautiful quote by 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz, in a translation by Daniel Ladinsky. The text of the piece is simply:  Even after all this time,the sun never says to the earth,“You owe me.”Look what happenswith a love like that:it lights the whole sky. Ladinsky’s texts are not direct translations — rather, they are … Read more

Ritual

Program Notes Here are the original program notes for this work, written in 2006: The first time I encountered “A Ritual to Read to Each Other” was five years before I wrote this piece, on September 10th, 2001. I remember the date primarily because it marked the first class of my freshman year at Juilliard … Read more