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works list by title (alphabetical)
A still small voice
Alleluia
Another Sun
Crossings
Láska a smetí
Laughter & Forgetting
Li Bai Songs
The Luminous Mysteries
Luminous Premonitions
Magnificat
Ordinary Time
Prayer for MingMing
Queen Slipper Serenade
Radiance
Rhythms for Marimba & Piano
Ricochet
Sleeping Light, Spinning World
Southwesterly
Votive
solo instruments
Votive | solo oboe — 2021 — 5 minutes
A flickering candle, bearing light, warmth, and prayers raised in gratitude. For MingMing, my light.
view score
Another Sun | solo piano — 2018 — 9 minutes
For a pianist friend who knows everything about new music, loves Neapolitan songs and the Beatles, but can barely move his fingers now.
Sleeping Light, Spinning World | solo guitar — 2016 — 5 minutes
“Write something pretty,” she said. A lullaby for my muse.
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Radiance | solo guitar — 2007 — 4 minutes
Soft-spoken beauty, with reserves of power and brilliance—in evocation of MingMing’s name, which means “light.”
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Prayer for MingMing | solo piano — 1993 — 7 minutes
Written when I was 21, with passion for the woman I still love 31 years later.
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duos, trios & quartets
Alleluia | mezzo-soprano, flute, cello — 2009 — 6 minutes
I’m intrigued by the idea, though it’s unfortunately not true, that the word “alleluia” originated in imitation of the sound a person makes when overcome with joy.
Crossings | percussion quartet — 2001/2010 — 8 minutes, or open with improvisation
Mystical grooves for unknown saints, inspired by Afro-Caribbean religious traditions in which music is what connects the physical and spiritual worlds.
Li Bai Songs | baritone voice, violin & guitar — 1999 — 12 minutes
As a non-native speaker of Mandarin, I tried to be obsessively loyal to the spoken sound of these poems by Li Bai, as recited by my Chinese family members who grew up with them. The music I added is to complement the music they already contain.
Patrick Mason, baritone; Curtis Macomber, violin; William Anderson, guitar.
November 9, 1999, Merkin Hall, NYC
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Ordinary Time | string quartet — 1998 — 11 minutes
This phrase from the church calendar has always struck me as ironic in its understatement, and appropriate for a piece that plays with time’s “ordinary” contradictions.
ABAOA Quartet, December 3, 2004, Martinů Hall, Prague
David Danel & Midon Hayashi, violins; Julian Veverica, viola; Balász Adorjan, cello
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Southwesterly | flute/alto flute & clarinet/bass clarinet — 1997/2014 — 11 minutes
At twilight in the summer, the wind would often stop, leaving sailboats to bob gently and wait quietly, until it would softly pick up again from another direction an hour or two after dark.
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Laughter & Forgetting | clarinet, viola & vibraphone — 1997/2004 — 7-10 minutes
I chose the title years earlier and for unrelated reasons, but now when I hear “Laughter and Forgetting,” I can only think of my father, who has since developed Alzheimer’s disease. His memory is gone, but his laughter, wit and sense of humor remain completely intact.
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Rhythms for Marimba & Piano | marimba & piano — 1996 — 7 minutes
There is someone in Cairo who listened online to this rumba-inspired duo at least once or twice every week for two years. This perplexing connection fills me with hope — I would love to know their story.
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Queen Slipper Serenade — flute, horn, cello & piano — 2003 — 4 minutes
larger ensembles
Ricochet | flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin & cello — 2010 — 6 minutes
The opposite of perpetual motion. This piece just really didn’t want to be pushed, so I stopped hurrying it and let it open its wings at its own pace.
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A still small voice | flute, clarinet, trombone, percussion, piano, viola (or violin) & cello — 2008/2009 — 8-10 minutes
I’ve always liked the softer side of the trombone, and the idea that truth can be found in the “still small voice” rather than the wind and the earthquake and the fire.
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Láska a smetí | flute, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola, cello & contrabass — 2004 — 7 minutes
After Czech author Ivan Klima’s novel of the same title (Love and Garbage), which jumps around in time so frequently and seamlessly that it seems to exist outside of time entirely.
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Adiabatic Sextet — clarinet, tenor sax, trombone, 2 percussion & piano — 1998 — 10 minutes
A meteorological term having something to do with interactions of hot and cold air masses on a grand scale, and associated with strong wind and dense fog, “adiabatic” also sounds to me like scat syllables.
vocal & choral
Magnificat | unaccompanied choir — 2000 — 7 minutes
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” For Aunt Dorothy, Sister of Mercy (1904-1999).
Li Bai Songs | baritone voice, violin & guitar — 1999 — 12 minutes
As a non-native speaker of Mandarin, I tried to be obsessively loyal to the spoken sound of these poems by Li Bai, as recited by my Chinese family members who grew up with them. The music I added is to complement the music they already contain.
Patrick Mason, baritone; Curtis Macomber, violin; William Anderson, guitar.
November 9, 1999, Merkin Hall, NYC
view score
Alleluia | mezzo-soprano, flute, cello — 2009 — 6 minutes
I’m intrigued by the idea, though it’s unfortunately not true, that the word “alleluia” originated in imitation of the sound a person makes when overcome with joy.