Santo from Misa trinitaria by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), for SSAA chorus and bombo Chorus Austin's Southwest Voices: She Sings performed April 24, available for viewing until May 8, 2021 (Santo starts at 12:35).

¡Hola¡ I’m Adrienne Inglis, composer of Santo. Thanks so much to Ryan Heller and Chorus Austin for recording and producing Santo. It’s part of the Latin​​ American folk mass, Misa trinitaria that celebrates Trinitarian theology, Spanish worship liturgy, and traditional folk musical styles from Perú, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Argentina. Santo is in the style of an Afro-Bolivian saya, a driving dance rhythm used in community celebrations and street festivals. You’ll hear the goat-skinned bombo, goat-hoof rattle chajchas, and a whistle or pito. You’ll also hear some call-and-response effects in the choral parts. Enjoy this joyful, exuberant expression of the Sanctus Benedictus text.

Santo from Misa trinitaria by Adrienne Inglis April 24, 2021

Recorded by Inversion Da Capo under the direction of Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon
December 2020

La ciudad sumergida (The Submerged City) (2020) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), a setting of an excerpt of the sonnet Río de la Plata en lluvia from Mascarilla y Trébol (1938) by Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni, commissioned for Dr. Ramona Wis and the North Central College Women's Chorale in Naperville, Illinois, for online performance.

La ciudad sumergida by Adrienne Inglis December 15, 2020

Kindness for solo flute (2020) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) is dedicated to the memory of Sandy Fivecoat (1949-2020) and was performed by the composer at her August 30, 2020 private memorial service. The lyrical phrases and evocative harmonies capture Sandy’s gentle, giving spirit. The Austin music community misses her very much. Duration 2:37

Kindness by Adrienne Inglis September 23, 2020

Newt (2020) for flute and string bass or harp by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), composed for Chaski's Words & Other Wild Things concert video, inspired by the poem Newt from The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane, illustrated by Jackie Morris

Newt for flute and double bass by Adrienne Inglis August 2, 2020

La ciudad sumergida (The Submerged City) (2020) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
Text: an excerpt of the sonnet Río de la Plata en lluvia from Mascarilla y Trébol (1938) by Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni

Río de La Plata en lluvia from Mascarilla y Trébol (1938) by Alfonsina Storni (first four lines of the sonnet)

Ya casi el cielo te apretaba, ciego,
y sumergida una ciudad tenías
en tu cuerpo de grises heliotropos
neblivelado en su copón de llanto.

[The sky was about to embrace you, blind, 
and you had in your body of gray heliotropes a submerged city, 
with the misty sky like a chalice about to overflow with tears.]

Commissioned for Dr. Ramona Wis and the North Central College Women's Chorale in Naperville, Illinois, this setting of poetry by Alfonsina Storni  depicts apocalyptic images of a submerged city and of tears overflowing from the chalice-sky that eerily foreshadow rising sea levels due to anthropogenic global warming.

Remote SSAA premiere: 2 Nov 2020 The North Central College Women's Chorale of Naperville, Illinois
Recorded SSAA premiere: 19 Dec 2020 recording released by Inversion Da Capo
Remote SATB premiere: C4 and Inversion Ensembles 4 Feb 2021 as part of C4's livestreamed Where Water Meets Sky YouTube concert
World in-person SATB premiere: 24 Oct 2021 Concordia University Choir with Dr. Joshua Chai

La ciudad sumergida by Adrienne Inglis — October 24, 2021

For the Toad on the Kitchen Step (2021) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
Text: For the Toad on the Kitchen Step by Oregon's 2018-2020 Poet Laureate and Lewis & Clark College Associate Professor Kim Stafford for SATB mixed chorus, organ, and nature soundtrack, commissioned by Inversion Ensemble.

Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble, For the Toad by the Kitchen Step, contrasts both the whimsical levity of the poem with the darker implications of humans’ impact on toads and their habitats. Colorful choral harmonies, grand organ gestures, delicate vocal effects, and the nature soundtrack create a soundscape that draws the audience into the toad’s world view. The nature soundtrack was recorded by Adrienne Inglis in June 2021 on Cow Creek Road, western Travis County, Texas.

For the Toad by the Kitchen Step
by Kim Stafford

Rain has come and life is good!
Everywhere in the dark forest, 
in moss along my favorite path, and in
my den in duff, a hum of well-being!

Listen! Hear the tramp of the makers?
Percussive steps on bedrock, on the wood
stair, and earth! All that resonant thrum
of tinkering, as they chatter and blur.

How they long to make a jewel like me!
My pearled belly, [the] magnificent articulation
of my toes, and the glory of my pebbled back
in colors subtle beyond imagining.

Oh, these humans, my towering kin
intent on fashioning their poor equivalent
of what a tree does, simply standing up,
or rain falling to perfectly dimple the sea,

or a toad content in Buddha pose.
In spite of all, I must forgive them.
If they don’t tread on me, they’ll make me
die with laughing, chanting every night.

Copyright © 2021 by Kim Stafford

For the Toad by the Kitchen Step by Adrienne Inglis November 14, 2021

I am worth nothing (2022), a song for soprano and piano by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)

Inversion Ensemble presented Eternal Graffiti
April 9, 2022
KMFA Draylen Mason Studio
41 Navasota St, Austin, TX 78702
Katrina Saporsantos, soprano
Benjamin Dia, piano

Text: “I am not worthy — Pīntci nakāmmam axām,” poem by Lisa Kay Adam from her book xuāi: mission, house, village, town, published in 2018 by Lamar University Literary Press, used with permission
Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for Eternal Graffiti April 9, 2022, Austin, Texas

Program note: Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble and composed by Adrienne Inglis, I am worth nothing sets a stunning Coahuilteco/English poem by Texas poet Lisa Kay Adam. From the phrase Pīntci nakāmmam axām (I am worth nothing), Adam creates a vivid story of two young Coahuiltecan sisters and their encounters with newly arrived Spanish settlers and mission priests in the eighteenth century. Musically, the florid phrases and haunting modalities join with the sounds of drums and melancholic bells to paint a picture of exploitation, early death, and a lost way of life in the western gulf coastal plains.
Duration: 9:06
Sheet music available soon at Sheet Music Plus.
World premiere: Eternal Graffiti with soprano Katrina Saporsantos and pianist Benjamin Dia April 9, 2022 Austin, Texas

I am worth nothing by Adrienne Inglis — April 9, 2022

How Dare You (2020)
by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) b. 1960
for SATB mixed chorus, flute, and nature soundtrack
Dedicated to Brent Baldwin and Panoramic Voices, Austin, Texas

The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City University of New York presented the live remote world premiere of How Dare You by the Queens College Vocal Ensemble with flutist Adrienne Inglis under the direction of Prof. James John on May 13, 2021 live streamed remotely online using Jamulus/Syncspace here: https://youtu.be/4zWP-AXDh2Q/. It starts at about 01:22:00.

Greta Thunberg’s clear and powerful voice on the action we need to take to address anthropogenic global warming resonates as much throughout the halls of political power and as within each of our hearts. Her understanding and explanation of the science demand that we meet specific and drastic reductions of fossil fuel combustion to avoid catastrophic and existential threats to earths’ ecosystems and the well-being of humanity. Her keen awareness of vulnerable populations demands that we implement changes fairly. How Dare You for mixed chorus, flute, and nature soundtrack by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) dramatizes excerpts from Greta’s memorable speech at the UN Climate Summit September 23, 2019. The nature soundtrack was recorded by the composer in the hill country of central Texas, summer of 2020.

How Dare You by Adrienne Inglis — May 13, 2021

Mother of All Things (2021) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
Treble SAA chorus and pedal or lever harp or piano

Text — an excerpt from Eurynome: The Mother of All Things as found in From Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths & Monsters by Nikita Gill

Commissioned for Inversion Ensemble Da Capo by Becky and Ted Mercado
Duration 3:58
Difficulty 3 (Advanced high school collegiate or community chorus)
Language — English
Sheet music available here.
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/mother-of-all-things-for-ssa-and-harp-digital-sheet-music/22323007 

Performed 22 May 2022 Inversion Da Capo, Austin, Texas (world premiere) 
Watch here https://youtu.be/C_VOTl22ECs

Program note — The Mother of All Things (2020) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), commissioned for Inversion Da Capo by Becky & Ted Mercado, for treble SAA chorus and harp, sets an excerpt from Eurynome: The Mother of All Things as found in From Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths & Monsters by Nikita Gill. Harp joins treble voices to crystallize a girl’s creation myth in which her bones, feet, fingers, and arms conjure her very own dancing, swirling universe.
Duration: 3:58

Mother of All Things by Adrienne Inglis — May, 22, 2022

Os nace un Cordero (2021) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
SATB chorus, pedal or lever harp, and piano

Text — lines 1-4, 17-20 from “Pastores que veláis” by Santa Teresa de Jesús de Ávila, España 1515-1582
Duration 3:55
Difficulty 3 (Advanced high school collegiate or community chorus)
Language: Spanish

Sheet music available here. 
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/os-nace-un-cordero-unto-you-a-lamb-is-born-for-satb-chorus-piano-and-pedal-or-lever-harp-digital-sheet-music/22272127

The perusal score video is included on this YouTube playlist.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY9Jh0jT7VQvcM78yozLNYpIXeWzJjMPs

Performances:
18 Dec 2021 Chorus Austin, Austin, Texas (World premiere)

Program note — Commissioned by Ryan Heller and Chorus Austin  for On a Winter’s Eve, Os nace un Cordero (Unto You a Lamb Is Born) sets excerpts from the Spanish poem “Pastores que veláis” by Santa Teresa de Jesús de Ávila for SATB mixed chorus, piano, and pedal or lever harp. As angels announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, Teresa foreshadows Jesus’ crucifixion by referring to him as Cordero (Lamb). She also affirms Jesus as the fully human (hombre también junto) and fully divine son of the sovereign God (Hijo de Dios Soberano). The piece opens with angels approaching from a distance singing “pastores” (shepherds) followed by joyful choral couplets. Several dualities weave together representing the oneness of the human and divine: harp and piano; Venezuelan joropo rhythm derived from Spanish dance; sixteenth century text and twenty-first century music; and major and Phrygian modes. Spanning cultures, oceans, and centuries, this music exuberantly announces the celebrated birth of Christ.

Os nace un Cordero by Adrienne Inglis — December 18, 2021

Shelter in Place by Adrienne Inglis
Commission for Lewis and Clark Community Chorale
for SSAATB mixed chorus and nature soundtrack

Shelter in Place (2021) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) sets the poem Shelter in Place by Oregon's 2018-2020 Poet Laureate and Lewis & Clark College Associate Professor Kim Stafford for SSAATB mixed chorus and nature soundtrack. Commissioned by Katherine FitzGibbon and the Lewis & Clark College Choral Program, the new choral work by Lewis & Clark College 1982 alumna Adrienne Inglis with nature soundtrack by Lewis & Clark class of 2021 composition major Chris Clark-Johnson premiered as part of a video concert streamed here on April 28, 2021 at 20:24. 
https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=SEFssaEzfMKt5DCq&u=/watch%3Fv%3D324K8PPkLlA%26feature%3Dem-lsp

Duration 4:46
Sheet music is available for purchase here.
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/shelter-in-place-for-ssaatb-chorus-and-nature-soundtrack-digital-sheet-music/22033208/

Nature soundtrack is available here.
https://youtu.be/mDjwealth9I/%22

Performances:
Lewis and Clark College Spring Choral Concert April 28, 2021

Shelter in Place by Adrienne Inglis — April 28, 2021

Walk With Me by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
for flute and violin
Dedicated to Marisa Inglis Hudson and Michael Andrew Donatti 
on their Wedding Day April 30, 2022

With much gratitude and love, I offer my flute and violin duet "Walk With Me" to my nibling Marisa and nibling-in-law Michael for their April 30, 2022 wedding. Inspired by their passion for hiking, this duet captures a sense of their devoted love for each other and their commitment to walking side by side as they journey through life together.

This recording was made by flutist Adrienne Inglis and violinist Laurel Lawshae on December 31, 2023 at Saint Mary Cathedral in Austin, Texas for their noon mass.

The score is available for purchase here:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/walk-with-me-digital-sheet-music/22280728

Walk With Me by Adrienne Inglis — December 31, 2023

Consejos del gaucho (The Gaucho's Advice) 3:40 
Argentine zamba by Adrienne Inglis 
vocals, quena, guitar, accordion, bombo performed by Chaski
(lyrics from El Gaucho Martín Fierro by José Hernández, pub. 1872)
Un padre que da consejos 
Más que padre es un amigo. 
Ansí como tal les digo 
Que vivan con precaución: 
Naides sabe en que rincón 
Se oculta el que es su enemigo.
Su esperanza no la cifren 
Nunca/en corazón alguno; 
En el mayor infortunio 
Pongan su confianza en Dios;
De los hombres, sólo en uno; 
Con gran precaución en dos.

Procuren, si son cantores, 
El cantar con sentimiento; 
No tiemplen el estrumento 
Por solo/el gusto de hablar, 
Y acostumbrensé a cantar 
En cosas de jundamento.

Consejos del gaucho

Pájaros was selected one of 55 finalists out of almost 2200 entries for the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra 2018 Call for Scores!

As an avid bird lover, the composer sets some of her favorite bird songs to music in Pájaros for solo flute and strings. The birds featured in this piece nest every spring in the Hill Country of Texas, west of Austin. As daylight turns to dusk, the Bewick's Wren's tuneful song unfolds over an Argentine tango rhythm, accompanied by the Northern Cardinal, Lesser Goldfinch, and Northern Bobwhite. A Red-tailed Hawk startles all the song birds into momentary silence. As they resume their singing, dusk fades into darkness and various insects start their incessant chirping. The mysterious Chuck-will's-widow sings its mournful call all night long, set here to a Venezuelan pasaje rhythm. When day breaks, the Golden-cheeked Warbler sings its two songs from the treetops to stake out its territory and attract a mate. The Cuban danzón provides the backdrop for its flirtatious tunes.

Performed 1 Oct 2017
First United Methodist Church, Pflugerville, Texas
Flutist and composer Adrienne Inglis
Inversion Ensemble
Photo by Emilio Torres

Pájaros for solo flute and strings performed by Inversion Ensemble

El sol [The Sun]
A setting of Sonnet XXXIII by Luis Martín de la Plaza
in the style of a Venezuelan joropo
For SATB chorus, harp, and Venezuelan cuatro

Performed June 2018
Inversion Ensemble
Artistic Director Trevor F. Shaw
Shana Norton, harp
Adrienne Inglis cuatro

El sol (The Sun) by Adrienne Inglis, sets Sonnet XXXIII by Luis Martín de la Plaza to a Venezuelan joropo for SATB chorus, harp, and cuatro. Luis Martín de la Plaza (1577-1625) grew up in the small southern
Spanish town of Antequera. A gifted poet as well as a priest, he wrote this Petrarchan sonnet in classical style. The octave (the first eight lines) presents a violent thunderstorm with dark clouds that hide the
sun, fierce winds that fight with the sea, waves that batter the rocky coastline, and hail that blankets the fields. The sestet (the final six lines) turns the narrative to the sun’s breaking through the clouds,
calming the sea, hushing the wind and thunder, painting the clouds gold, and adorning the fields with fragrant flowers. One is left to wonder whose eyes are so beautiful as to make the sun’s dawn envy their colors. The sonnet’s rhythmic and vivid imagery lends itself to a Venezuelan joropo, a creole dance and musical style derived from Spanish, African, and indigenous sources. The SATB choral parts indulge in some cross rhythms and playful polyphony over a typical joropo rhythm on the harp and Venezuelan cuatro. — Adrienne Inglis

Soneto XXXIII by Luis Martín de la Plaza (1577-1625)
Antequera, Spain

Cubierto estaba el sol de un negro velo, [The sun was covered with a black veil]
luchaba el viento con el mar hinchado [the wind fought with the swollen sea]
y él, en huecos peñascos quebrantado [and it, broken against the hollow crags]
con blanca espuma salpicaba el cielo [with white foam splashed the sky]

El ronco trueno amenazaba el suelo [The raucous thunder threatened the earth]
tocaba el rayo al monte levantado [touched the high mountain with lightning]
y pardas nubes de granizo helado [and brown clouds of frozen hail]
el campo cobijaban con su hielo. [blanketed the countryside with their ice.]

Mas luego que su clara luz mostraron [But then the beautiful eyes]
los bellos ojos que contento adoro [that I happily adore showed their bright light]
y a quien el alba envidia los colores: [and whose colors the dawn envies:]

calmó el mar, calló el viento y se ausentaron [calmed the sea, hushed the wind and the thunder]
los truenos, pintó el sol las nubes de oro, [dissipated, the sun painted the clouds gold,]
vistióse el campo de olorosas flores. [the countryside was dressed in fragrant flowers.]

El sol by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)

Innocent Blood by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
performed October 7, 2018
by Inversion Ensemble
Trevor F. Shaw, artistic director
Page Stephens, mezzo-soprano
Adrienne Inglis, flute and bass flute
Sheryl Stack, portative organ
Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Austin, Texas

Note: Mary Esty of Topsfield, Massachusetts, was the composer’s eighth-great-grandmother, a 58-year-old married mother of seven. She was falsely accused of witchcraft and hanged September 22, 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Innocent Blood, a choral work with mezzo soprano soloist, mixed chorus, flute/bass flute, and organ tells Mary's tragic story. Catherine Colvin's beautifully crafted metered poem A Contemplation of God: Massachusetts Bay 1692 gives voice to the political upheaval, social unrest, and religious angst that characterized the colony in 1692. The collapse of the original colonial charter in 1684, the imposition of the unpopular Dominion of New England charter, the overthrow of King James II by William of Orange in 1688, and the imposition in 1691 of yet another charter that restricted local rule and religious laws, all contributed to the collective dread. An influx of refugees from the King William's War to the north, plus ongoing conflicts with Native Americans, rival families, failed crops, and wolves, created great fear and anxiety in Salem Village. The distress suffered led to increased fear of Satan's hand in their community. The setting of transcribed court records recreates dramatic April 22, 1692 trial that sends her to jail. Mary Esty's eloquent petition to Governor William Phips is a duet with the mezzo soloist and bass flute. The work closes with grief and regret shown by the community, a poignant farewell and prayer as Mary Esty says goodbye to her family, and a chilling conclusion as the bailiff leads her offstage to the gallows in silence. The Bay Psalm Book published in 1698 contains the hymns commonly sung by Puritans in their devotionals at home. The following tunes weave through the movements: Windsor, Cambridge, and St. David's.

Innocent Blood by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) Oct. 7, 2018

The Rage and Reconciliation of King Lear by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)June 2, 2019

Performed by Inversion Ensemble
Directed by Trevor Shaw
June 2, 2019
Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Austin, Texas
Nathan Koch, bassoon
Austin Haller, piano

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Lear , Act III/ii:1-9, 
text added (*noted below) by the composer, based on the deathbed confession of Martin Luther and words of Dr. Milton Henry Riemer,
in whose memory the work was commissioned.

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage, blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulph’rous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head!
And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, all germains spill at once
That make ingrateful man!

Wir sein Pettler, Hoc est verum.* [We are beggars. This is true.]

Where have I been? Where am I? Fair daylight?
I am mightily abus’d. I should ev’n die with pity
To see another thus. I know not what to say.
I will not swear these are my hands. Let's see, I feel this pin prick. Would I were assur’d
Of my condition!
You must bear with me.
Pray you now forget, and forgive; I am old and foolish.

Walk with light.

(The Shakespeare text sung by the choir uses original pronunciation  probably used in Shakespeare’s day.)

Scored for mixed chorus, bassoon, and piano, The Rage and Reconciliation of King Lear by Adrienne Inglis weaves passages from
Shakespeare’s King Lear with signature phrases of the Rev. Dr. Milton H. Riemer. Dr. Riemer’s words bring insight and reflection to the
poignant narrative of a parent-child relationship. Outside in a raging storm, King Lear angrily punishes himself for foolishly excluding his
favorite daughter, Cordelia, from a portion of his kingdom. As mental illness takes hold, he suffers from curious confusion but understands
his failings and begs Cordelia’s forgiveness. The Scottish air Etrick Banks provides melodic material that yields a royal fanfare, lament,
thunderstorm, dementia, regret, and reconciliation. Crunchy chords and unsettling dissonances punctuate the sounds of modal chants and medieval polyphony.

Note from Jonathan Riemer: My father was a lover of great words and great music. I can think of no better way to honor his careful, thoughtful, yet at times desperately pragmatic journey through life than with this marriage of arts. May every note help us all to Walk With Light.

The Rage and Reconciliation of King Lear by Adrienne Inglis June 2, 2019

The Song of the Harp Seal (Òrain Ròin na Clàrsaich) by Adrienne Inglis (world premìere)

Performed August 11, 2019
Austin, Texas
Inversion Ensemble Coda
Trevor F. Shaw, artistic director
Cina Crisara, guest conductor
Shana Norton, clàrsach

Text: Gillean McDougall
We are strangers in these waters,
seeking food by the Sound of Sleat.
My sea-child skims the crystal swells,
dip-dives aquamarine, balancing thrust
and thrum of sand on sea shells.
My heart, my mother, my dear
See me play, see me swim, see me dive
Peaceful at Claigan, Talisker, Braes,
the harp pup plays on silver sands, swims
with starfish, her pearl skin the warp
and weft of myth. I hope for you,
I heart for you, my selkie girl, my joy.
The water is full of treasure! Full of gifts!
I see things I do not understand
But the currents carry the sins of man;
death-water, the world’s waste. The ocean
toys with us, day poisons night
Mother, I can’t see you. I am failing,
and the light in my child fades.
I am falling. What is sea, and what is sky?
By Vaternish,
innocent, she is taken in.
The sea comes to claim her. I search
blind, sleeping by turns then awake;
a dear small space by my side.
Thig, thig, leanabh beag,
Borroraig, Colbost;
‘S e do chàirdean a th’annain anis,
the waters
black, never-ending.
Chan eil an saoghal gad iarraidh.
The world did not want us,
my child, my child,
Bhàsaich thu air an son.
my selkie girl, my joy.
The mermaids are my friends now.
They call to me, play with me.
Remember me, let all remember me,
the harp seal
Cuimhnich, cuimhnich air
ròin na clàrsaich.

Composed especially for Inversion Ensemble Coda, The Song of the Harp Seal by Adrienne Inglis sets to music Gillean McDougall’s poem of the same name, commissioned by the composer for this project. For treble chorus and harp, this work tells the story of a mother harp seal and her pup forced south of their usual Arctic range by the climate crisis. The pup ingests plastic pollution which contributes to her death near the shores of the Isle of Skye. Scottish legend mixes with modern tragedy as mermaids beckon in Gaelic to the harp pup and summon the audience to remember the harp seal.

Note from poet:
When Adrienne approached me to write the poem, I’d just read a news story about a harp seal pup which had washed up on a beach on Scotland’s Isle of Skye. An autopsy revealed it had eaten plastic. This made a great impact on me - these animals are particularly gentle, beautiful and vulnerable, and incidents like this send a strong message to us to look after our world in a better way. When writing the poem, I wanted to use language that was ‘singable,’ with open vowels. I thought the place names of Skye had a beautiful musicality about them, too. Spatial separation of different voices was an exciting prospect, and the use of some Scots Gaelic lines emphasises the other-worldly nature of the sounds. — Gillean McDougall

The Song Of The Harp Seal by Adrienne Inglis August 11, 2019

Inversion Ensemble
Aether: Fire - passion/psyche
March 1, 2020
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
Trevor F. Shaw, Artistic Director / Clinton Bray, Guest Conductor
Austin Haller, piano

Fireflies by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
World première performance
Text: Margaret Noodin
Waawaatesiwag [Fireflies]
Aaniin ezhi-pogozid dibikigiizis?[How does one taste the moon?]
Aaniin ezhi-pogwad waasamowin? [What is the weight of wind?]
Aaniin ezhichigeyaamba [How can I understand]
ji-nisidostawaag waawaatesiwag? [the fireflies?]
Nimbagamaashi ina giizhigong [Sail kisses to heaven]
gemaa bimaakogomoyaan ode’agaming? [or row to a heart’s shore?]
Waa ninzaka’amawdiz ganabaj [Perhaps I will set myself alight]
atooyaan ishkodensan ishpiming [place the flames in the sky]
anangziibikeyaan dibikong [make a night river of light]
miidash bizaani-ayaayaan [then become as quiet as]
dibishkoo baashkaabigwan-ininiwizh. [a milkweed blossom.]

Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for its Aether: Fire concert in the winter of 2020, Fireflies (2019) for mixed chorus, piano, and optional percussion evokes vivid imagery of Margaret Noodin’s bilingual poem Fireflies from her 2015 book, Weweni, poems in Anishinaabemowin and English. Honoring the composer’s Ojibwe ancestors, the piece sets the poem’s English text including the Anishinaabemowin word for fireflies (Waawaatesiwag). Moments of musical and whispered aleatory capture visions of fireflies on a summer night. Colorful augmented sixth chords and lush harmonies kindle visions of love and nature amidst the dreamy mixolydian modality and lilting ¾ time. The text used by permission is Fireflies by Margaret Noodin from her book, Weweni, poems in Anishinaabemowin and English, Wayne State University Press, Detroit.

Fireflies by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) March 1, 2020

Oure Light in Oure Night (2020), by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) with nature soundtrack recorded by the composer in the central Texas hill country, July 2020, composed especially for online remote choir performance using a video score.
Text from The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, Part III LXXXIII lines 3362-3364 "Thus I saw and understode that our feith is oure light in our night, which light is God, our endless day."

Oure Light in Oure Night by Adrienne Inglis — August 27, 2020

Founder, award-winning composer, and singer with Inversion Ensemble of Austin, Texas, Adrienne Inglis also serves as principal flute with the Central Texas Philharmonic and flutist with flute/harp duo Chaski. She has music degrees from Lewis and Clark College and the University of Texas at Austin. Frequently drawing on her family history and Ojibwe, Venezuelan, and Scottish ethnicities, Inglis composes choral, chamber, and orchestral music. An avid birder and environmentalist, she lives in the rural hill country of Central Texas.

Adrienne Inglis

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