Composer
Note: This is the first three movements of this set (Act 1), which were commissioned by TENET Vocal Artists. Movements 4 and 5 (along with interludes) were commissioned by Backshore Artists’ Project and Music from Angel Fire and were premiered in August 2025. Program Notes I’ve always been fascinated by iconoclastic women — those who … Read more
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
details forthcoming*this work has not yet been completed Program Notes Recording Special Performance Requirements Audio Guide Premiere/Performances 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 When I began writing this concerto, the first image that came to mind was of a plane, moving through towering cumulonimbus clouds. From the ground, the plane seems so small, while the clouds rise stories high — so vast and foreboding. And yet, the plan is the only solid presence in that sky. … 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 This work started in its trio version, for a professional violinist and violist, and their daughter, who was just learning to play the violin. I loved working with Julia St. John, who was eight years old at the time, to create a piece that would showcase and feature her — both as a … 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 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
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