Choral & Vocal
On This Rock (2020)
This work was commissioned by Christian Clow and Nathan Thompson, leaders of vocal group Vocem Cordis. They approached me asking if I would write an unaccompanied choral piece that was in some way influenced by Durufle's choral work, Tu Es Petrus. I chose to use the subject matter as an influence and text. This song tells the story of Jesus asking people who they thought he was, and speaking directly to Peter about his response to this question. The text is taken from the ESV translation of Matthew 16:13-18. The music utilized call and response and overlap of texts that create double meanings to paint a picture of the conversations that occurred.
Vocem Cordis performs On This Rock
When You Think of Me (2020)
This piece was the product of a collaboration with poet Dallas Klein. The text is from her poem which the piece is titled after. She gave me much freedom to interpret the poem and set it to music. I took an approach of text-painting, having the music often mirror what the text is saying or attempt to evoke the meaning of the words. I also modified the form to repeat the first line of the poem at the end, giving it a cyclical “forever floating” nature.
The original text of the poem by Klein:
​
When You Think of Me
Picture the clearest veins,
forever floating,
with mountains in my periphery
and a blue sky mirror
overhead;
the wind laughing through
my hair, and lake water—
rapturous childhood memories
collected from silky eyelids—
running through my fingers;
picture me serene,
blissed out,
closing my eyes, but
still able to see
the light of the sun;
never as the woman crying,
alone in rainy New England woods,
because she only just realized
she has a body.