Large Ensemble
Convivencia
for choir, string quartet, and harp
Convivencia is a six-movement cycle for choir, string quartet, and harp that gathers together sacred love poetry from the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions. All three of these religions have included love poetry with a spiritual component at various times in their history, and this piece draws attention to that point of connection. Convivencia, (“coexistence”) is a term that has been used to describe the period in medieval Spain when Jews, Muslims, and Christians cohabited the same area and interacted with each other extensively. The central impulse behind this choral cycle is the attempt to draw connections between these three cultures by focusing on aspects of experience that are shared by everyone around the globe and across the centuries: affection, desire, grief, loss. A wonderful addition to the piece is to have readings in the original languages from members of the various faith communities in between movements. All of the movements are suitable to be performed on their own.
Shifting Skies
Flute Duo and Flute Ensemble
This piece grew out of a request from the ZAWA! flute duo to write a piece for solo flute duo with flute ensemble that addressed the issue of climate change. This piece attempts to make an imaginary leap into the lives of migrating birds, and to envision how their experience is affected by the wind and the weather. There are many delicate soundscapes in this piece, starting in the opening with breath tones, and extremely quiet effect of whistle tones. The core of the piece is an improvisatory duet between the two solo alto flutes. A flock of birds crowded onto a tree in my back yard one day, and I took a slow-motion video of them with my phone as they flew away, and it seemed to complement the music so well, I turned it into a YouTube video.
Snap!
for flute duo with flute ensemble
This piece was written to showcase the ZAWA! flute duo. The duo is backed up by a nine-member flute ensemble, including bass and contrabass flute, as well as clickers and wood block, that functions largely in a percussive mode. This exuberant and uninhibited piece was premiered at the Middle Tennessee State University in March of 2023, and it is has the honor of being performed at the National Flute Association convention in August of 2023.
