Afterhours Blunt

Sing Their Names is a piece for 17-part mixed chorus that was commissioned and premiered by The New York Virtuoso Singers. The text is a list of the names of 51 people of color killed by police in the U.S. The list is not exhaustive; there are way more.

They sing:
"Dakota, Tyisha, Kimani, Aiyana, Malissa, Tarika, Amadou

Kimani Gray, Ousmane “Monte” Zongo, Ramarley Graham, James Brissette, Malcolm Ferguson, Rekia Boyd, Tyisha Miller, Timothy Russell, Malissa Williams, Tarika Wilson, Dakota Bright, Manny Loggins, John Crawford, Nicholas Heyward Junior, Kathryn Johnston, Ronald Madison, Oscar Grant, Joel Acevedo, Ruben Garcia Villalpando  

Manuel Jamines, Manuel Diaz, Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, Sean Bell, Tamir Rice, Aiyana Stanley Jones, Eric Garner, Ezell Ford, Jaime Gonzalez, Corey Harris, Omar Abrego, Anthony Rosario, Hilton Vega, Darrien Hunt, Roshad McIntosh

Yvette Smith, Anthony Baez, Patrick Dorismond, Amadou Diallo, Timothy Stansbury, Darius Pinex, Richard “Pedie” Perez, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Kendrec McDade, Jordan Baker, Rumain Brisbon, Kajieme Powell, Dante Parker, Tyree Woodson, Victor White"

Most were unarmed. They were killed between 1994 (Anthony Baez, Nicholas Heyward Junior) and 2015 (Ruben Garcia Villalpando, Walter Scott). The youngest was 7 (Aiyana Stanley Jones) and the oldest was 92 (Kathryn Johnston). Most were natural-born U.S. citizens and some were immigrants from places like Guatemala (Manuel Jamines), Burkina Faso (Ousmane “Monte” Zongo), and Guinea (Amadou Diallo). Some were killed in their own homes (Yvette Smith, Kathryn Johnston) and some were young teens or pre-teens shot with real guns for playing with toy guns (Nicholas Heyward Junior, Tamir Rice, Jaime Gonzalez). Most were killed with guns but some were killed with choke holds (Anthony Baez, Eric Garner) or beatings (Omar Abrego). Some were developmentally disabled (Ronald Madison, Ezell Ford). Some were killed because they were suspected of petty crimes like stealing donuts (Kajieme Powell) or non-crimes like carrying a sword (Darrien Hunt). One was shot while unconscious (Tyisha Miller) and one was shot while holding her baby (Tarika Wilson). My piece is a requiem for them. It begins with wild, angry, emotional outbursts and gradually morphs into a stoic but unified sonic wall of solidarity and mourning in the face of systemic injustice.


Sing Their Names

implanted memory

This piece was commissioned by The Lexington Symphony in collaboration with The Walden School to celebrate the tercentennial of the town of Lexington, Massachusetts. When I first began composing this piece, I reflected on scenes I encountered in New England over my past three summers with The Walden School. I remembered decrepit graveyards, humble churches, and historic government buildings, some dating back to the mid-1700s. These places sparked ideas of what life would feel and sound like in the nascent United States at a time of instability and revolutionary energy. In an abstract way, my piece especially alludes to Lexington’s role in the American Revolutionary War. Musically, I channeled the emotions that the Massachusetts colonists may have felt before the eruption of the Revolutionary war, beginning with rapidly changing instrumental choirs ascending in staccato clusters of unpredictable turbulence and ever-mounting tension. Later sections express uncertainty, fortitude, and the calm, open space of unknown future possibilities. 

As I was searching for a title for my piece, I recalled the first sentence in the Declaration of Independence which begins, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” The title of my piece, Dissolving Bands, is a reference to this line and the role Lexington played in ending England’s patriarchal relationship with the colonies. The title is also significant because it describes the musical material. Throughout the piece, I create bands of sound that I then dissolve in various ways; gradually, suddenly, temporally, orchestrationally. I would like to thank music director Jonathan McPhee, The Lexington Symphony, and The Walden School for making this commission possible. It has been an immense joy to write this piece for the Lexington Symphony and to hear them realize it! 


Dissolving Bands

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Never Too Careful

This is a mini-musical about Brian, an idealistic philosophy student who falls in love with a zombie. His friends try to warn him that she is dangerous, but Brian's been paying attention in post modern philosophy class and he thinks that his friends only hate the zombie because her neither-dead-nor-alive status challenges their entrenched notions of binary oppositions. Is the zombie a good match for Brian, or is his high-falutin' philosophy preventing him from seeing the zombie's true intentions (to eat his brain)?

Scene 1: "A Philosopher's Life," Brian is on the phone with his Dad.

Scene 2: "Post-Modern Philosophy Class," The Professor teaches Brian and his classmates about Jacques Derrida and his theory of binary oppositions.

Scene 3: "Falling in Love" and "Intellectual Connection," Brian meets the Zombie at a coffee shop and falls in love after they chat a bit. 

Scene 4: "She's a Zombie," before class, Brian's friends and classmates try to convince him to stop seeing the Zombie. Brian defends the Zombie and criticizes his friends' arguments.

Scene 5: "You Defy Dichotomy," Brian meets up with the Zombie and sings of his love for her. As he's leaning in for the kiss, she goes for his brain.

DIEchotomy

First Seven Words of Christ, seven short movements for piano four hands and two percussionists, was performed by Yarn/Wire at the Walden School in the summer of 2012. There are plenty of LAST seven words of Christ pieces; listen to find out what I speculate were Christ's FIRST seven words!

First Seven Words of Christ

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