Recorded Live
Performed by The Lunar Ensemble at the Maryland Science Center Davis Planetarium (March 2015)

"To See the Stars" is a 45-minute, multi-media dramatic song cycle for two sopranos and chamber ensemble which examines the history of astronomy, and telling the story of the irrepressible human desire to come into closer contact with celestial bodies. With lyrics by poet Dara Weinberg and composer Faye Chiao, the piece was inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope—its mission and what it represents. It is the culmination of thousands upon thousands of years of stargazing, study, and discovery. 

EXCERPT 1:  Instrumental Interlude: Aspiration
This instrumental interlude evokes the desire to look beyond what is already known: the beginning of every journey of exploration.

To See the Stars: Excerpt 1 Aspiration (instrumental)

Peter and the Wall

It's Not My Fault (feat. EJ Zimmerman)

Mahina Moku, the Pacific “Island of the Moon,” is sinking.  Its queen has arranged a marriage for her son, Akoni, to the princess of a neighboring island, in hopes of moving her people there.  Akoni worries the move will be the end of their historic culture and wants to marry a woman from Mahina Moku.  Knowing that certain death will come if they stay, the Queen gives in to her son’s desire by setting an impossible task: he may marry the woman who shatters the moon.  A great contest is held among the island’s legendary archers.  Having consulted the great ancestral spirits, a young fisherwoman, Kanoa, knows the secret to saving the island, but knows she will only be heard if she wins the hand of Akoni.  She devises a plan to shatter the moon.  At the contest, she surprises all by throwing a rock into the moon’s reflection in the waters of the ocean, winning the prince and revealing her plan to save Mahina Moku.

Ailani's Dilemma

The fifteenth-century Indian mystic Kabir, a weaver by trade, "was essentially a poet and musician: rhythm and harmony were to him the garments of beauty and truth" (Evelyn Underhill, Introduction to Rabindranath Tagore's "Songs of Kabir"). These pieces for flute and guitar – inspired by poems by Kabir which make literal or figurative mention of the flute, or of various plucked string instruments – are, in a sense, songs without words. Much of the musical material evolved from the process of “setting to music” translations of Kabir’s poetry by Robert Bly (songs 1, 3, and 5) and Tagore (songs 2 and 4). The rhythms and overall flavor of these English versions significantly informed the writing for both instruments, as did the unique blend of mischievous humor and passionate devotion so integral to Kabir’s style.

"Songs of Kabir" was commissioned by the Diller-Quaile School for Arc Duo (guitarist Bradley Colten and flutist Heather Holden). They premiered the work in May 2005 at Merkin Hall in New York, NY, and recorded it on their 2012 CD, New Works for Flute and Guitar (Azica Records 71275).

Recording: Arc Duo, New Works for Flute and Guitar (Azica Records 71275), August 2012

The Flute Of Interior Time (2005)

https://www.innova.mu/albums/michael-hersch/sudden-pianist
innova 859 CD + DVD

Ailani's Dilemma

Faye Chiao

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