Music: Choral
For SATB choir (divisi) and piano. Text by Emma Lazarus. Length 5′
A setting of Emma Lazarus’ famous poem about the Statue of Liberty that concludes with the iconic lines “Bring my your tired, your poor, you hungry…” This piece sets the text in its entirety, and is fundamentally about hope. It was written with large-ish choral groups in mind.
For SSATB choir, a cappella. Texts traditional and by Marcia Falk. Length 3′
A plea for respect and peace that incorporates two texts – one in English (Marcia Falk’s “Hallowing Our Names” from her “Book of Blessings”) and one in Hebrew (the traditional “Oseh Shalom” peace prayer).
for SATB choir and solo violin. Text by James Wright. Length 5′
A nighttime scene set in a midwestern cornfield. It’s supernatural, atmospheric and moody.
for SATB choir. Text from the Song of Songs (Bible). Length 2′
An optimistic piece that sets the famous “Rise up, my love, my fair one” psalm. This simple, brief setting focuses on the hopeful promise of change and of spring.
Buy score.SATB chorus, a cappella. Text in English by Rumi. Length 4.5′. Second Prize winner in the 2021 Institute for Choral Creativity Composition Competition.
A setting of Rumi’s words “the wound is the place where the light enters you.” The music is a dramatization of the way that woundedness and sacredness are interdependent. It starts in a place of sadness and moves to one of joy.
for SSAATTBB choir. Text adapted from the lyrics to the California Gold Rush song “Oh California” by J. Nichols (1849). Length: 4′
A climate-themed piece that expresses regret for the way humanity has treated the Earth. The lyrics to the 19th Century miner’s song “Oh California” are reset and reimagined from a twenty-first century perspective. It’s mournful and ghostly.
SATB choir, a cappella. Texts in English by Rainer Maria Rilke, Emily Dickinson,and H.D. Length: 15′
A choral cycle about the seasons. Each movement expresses an emotional landscape particular to each of the four seasons.
For SSAATTBB choir, a cappella. Traditional Hebrew text. Length 4′
A musical “icon” of the “Sh’ma” text from the Hebrew liturgy. The piece dramatizes the forceful exhortation that the “Sh’ma” represents.
For SATB choir, a cappella. Text in English by William Blake. Length 3′
A gentle and mysterious piece about rebirth and renewal.
SSAATTBB choir, a cappella. Text in English by Emily Dickinson. Length: 5′
An ecstatic setting of a poem by Emily Dickinson about the nature of time.
SATB choir and tape. Text in English by Stephen Crane. Length: 3.5′
A mini-drama in which an individual human voice addresses the vastness of the universe. The tape part is a drone derived from a NASA recreation of the sound of the sun.
SATB choir, a cappella. Text in English by Thomas Hardy.
A tale of a woman who may or may not have taken a wintry voyage to Ireland. It’s expansive and elegiac.
Buy score.SATB choir, a cappella. Text in English by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Length: 4′
This dark and ominous setting of “Break” by Tennyson conveys a sense of mourning. The undulating music reflects the nautical imagery of the text.
Buy score.For chorus, narrator and orchestra. Text in English by John Kinsella. Length: 13′
A dramatic, narrative piece about an earthquake in Western Australia in the 1960s. It’s about trauma and its aftermath.