Recording from premiere performance by the Princeton Singers at Adelphi University on Saturday, 30 September 2023.

Ave Maria (for SATB choir; 2018)

"Three Meditations" continues my practice of engaging with the creative work of Adelphi University colleagues and friends. This new work, written for Hub New Music, instead of setting the poems to be sung in performance, consists of instrumental reflections, responses, and “sonic paintings” of poetry by Maya Marshall and Jan-Henry Gray. These poems dwell on meanings of family and home; the anxiety of displacement; and love and hope. The three sections of the piece are performed without break, creating a quasi narrative progression from one to the next. The three poems are: "Nest" (M. Marshall); "Missing Document" (J. Gray); and "Everyday" (M. Marshall). Tremendous thanks to Hub New Music for how they made this piece come to life with such conviction. It was a deeply meaningful piece to me and it couldn't have been in better hands. And heartfelt gratitude to Maya and Jan-Henry for allowing me to respond to their work.

Three Meditations (for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello; 2024)

Commissioned by the Young Dancemakers Company (YDC)
Choreographed by Merline Auguste
Performances: 24 July - 2 August 2024

For more info on YDC:
https://sites.google.com/ecfs.org/young-dancemakers-company/home

A Mother's Love (2023)

"Home is..." was written for the 2024 Duke University Chorale Reunion and commissioned by Dr. Allan Friedman. The lyrics are "crowd sourced" and consist of responses from alums and members of the Chorale to prompts that I provided. I then ran these responses through a word cloud generator then created a poem based on the results which I used as the lyrics for this piece. Many thanks to all those who were involved in this performance!

Recording from the premiere performance on Sunday, 14 April 2024, Baldwin Auditorium, Duke University East Campus, Durham, NC, USA.

Home is... (2024)

Paghihirap, Pagsisikap, at Pagpupunyagi
For String Quartet and Fixed Media
November 2024

Written for and dedicated to the Ciompi Quartet:
Eric Pritchard, Hsiao-Mei Ku, Jonathan Bagg, and Caroline Stinson

The three words of the title roughly translate as: paghihirap ~ hardship or suffering; pagsisikap ~ hard work; and pagpupunyagi ~ striving for success. At its core, Paghihirap, Pagsisikap, at Pagpupunyagi seeks to convey the fears, worries, and nervousness that immigrants often encounter. In the final section of the piece, the fixed media (a multi-tracked recording of the poem, Missing Document, by Filipino-American poet Jan-Henry Gray) is overlaid on top of previously written music (re-scored for string quartet) that focuses on the theme of "home," thereby suggesting tension between the words of the poem that speak to anxieties associated with the immigrant experience, and the original intent of the music that strives to evoke a sense of supportive faith and grounding comfort.

With tremendous gratitude to the Ciompi Quartet for this opportunity to write for them.
-Sidney Marquez Boquiren

Paghihirap, Pagsisikap, at Pagpupunyagi

Paghihirap, Pagsisikap, At Pagpupunyagi (2024)

In the fall of 2024 as a present for his 65th birthday, I composed a string quartet for John McDonald (composer, pianist, and professor at Tufts University) who has been a mentor and dear friend to me. Through him, the piece was shared with Palaver Strings who then invited me to arrange the piece for them. As I reworked the string quartet to be suitable for a larger ensemble, I had the opportunity to reflect further on current events, eventually settling on the title, Panalangin, which means “prayer” in Tagalog (the Philippine dialect that I speak). The piece unfolds gently through successive waves of rising and falling lines as well as increasing and decreasing intensities, allowing instruments of the ensemble to come to the fore and then recede. It is a prayer that is at times whispered softly, sometimes spoken fervently, and always delivered passionately, with hope at its core.

Panalangin

Babaylan (“Healer” in the Philippine dialect of Tagalog) is a multi-sectional composition that explores various permutations of a chamber ensemble with a unique instrumentation in the context of a ritualistic evocation based on Southeast Asian healing traditions and musical practices and concepts. The piece involves the confluence of three traditions. The first is the tradition of Western music as represented by the familiar concert instruments of flute and cello. Secondly, the khaen (a free-reed mouth organ made out of bamboo) represents Lao/Thai musical practice. Finally, in what I view as a process of transmutation, I draw upon deeper cultural elements embedded in Philippine healing rituals as a crucial source of inspiration for musical material, combined with my own experiences and knowledge as a Filipino: this is at the heart of the third tradition and forms the core of the piece. Babaylan presents these three traditions in musical dialogue, at times unified into a singular whole, at other times presented as separate and distinct but interwoven strands.

Babaylan was commissioned by and is dedicated to Christopher Adler and the members of NOISE Ensemble.

Babaylan (2010)

"The Book of Mourning" is a set of four works dwelling on the shared act of grieving which we experience through our rituals of mourning. The works in this set reference various traditions ranging from practices of keening and cortege to the Tibetan bardo thodol, the Catholic Missa de profunctis, and other funerary and literary texts, as well as customs of mourning. "Images" (for string quartet) is the second work in this set.

While I offer these pieces to the memory of our loved ones and others who have passed on, in truth I believe these works are also reflective of the turmoil of emotions that those who mourn experience and ultimately endure. 


“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

“No more shall your sun go down, nor your moon disappear; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.”
(Isaiah 60:20)

Written for and dedicated to the Jupiter Quartet.

Boquiren Chamber Works

The Book of Mourning, Quarto II: Images (2012)

One in a set of three lamentations. Most unfortunately, only this one has been premiered.

Commissioned, dedicated to, and performed by Voces Nordicae (Lone Larsen, Artistic Director).

Boquiren Choral Works

I Shall Not (2006)

Written for the nief-norf Summer Festival 2018. Performed by Sarah Barham (piano), Georgia Mills (piano), Alex RIchard (percussion), and Devon Roulston (percussion). Premiered: Friday, 15 June 2018. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie Haslam Music Center, Univ. of Tennessee-Knoxville.

The Book of Mourning, Quarto III: Tala (2018)
For Two Pianos and Two Percussion
Written for the 2018 nief-norf Summer Festival

Tala is a multivalent Philippine (Tagalog dialect) word that, depending on pronunciation, can mean “star” (bituin), “count” (bilang), or “remembering” (paggunita). The Book of Mourning, Quarto III: Tala is constructed in three sections to reflect these three possible meanings. Tala is the third in a set of four works that dwell on grieving and mourning as a shared human experience. These four works reference various practices ranging from keening and cortege to the Tibetan bardo thodol and the Catholic Missa pro defunctis, as well as other funerary and literary texts, and recent tragedies of loss. Specifically, I wrote Tala as a response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that resulted in the death of 17 innocent victims and brought about the rise of youth-led activism against gun violence. The main section of the work uses two sources: the names of three of the Parkland survivor-activists transformed into pitches and harmonies, and the number of victims of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in the United States since 2009 translated as durations.

The Book of Mourning, Quarto III: Tala (for two pianos and two percussionists; 2018)

Words by: Judith Baumel
Performed by: Amber Evans (soprano) and Jeremy Chan (piano)
Recorded by: Excelsior Images Company

14 December 2019
St. John's in the Village, New York City, NY

With special thanks to:
Father Graeme Napier (St. John's in the Village)
and
Dean Vincent Wang (College of Arts and Sciences, Adelphi University)

Tre Passeggiate_I. Hic Adelfia Clarissima Femina (2019)

Tre Passeggiate_II. Under The Dwarf Apple Tree (2019)

Tre Passeggiate_III. For Major Adam McKeown (2019)

Commissioned by the Young Dancemakers Company (YDC)
Choreographed by Zarina Medwinter
Performances: 24 July - 3 August 2019

For more info on YDC:
https://sites.google.com/ecfs.org/young-dancemakers-company/home

The Loudest Silence (2019)

I.	“Beacon” (0:00)
“Beacon” takes as its inspiration the notion of being a “beacon of hope” and of a light shining in the darkness.

II.	“Bridges” (3:20)
“Bridges” refers to the use of the term for those who reach out to others, especially those who are marginalized such as members of the LGBTQ community as well as immigrants. In an article from 2017, the Jesuit priest Father James S. Martin quoted Pope Francis as saying, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.” And I couldn’t help but also remember a line from the film Black Panther, spoken by King T’Challa: “The wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers.”

III.	“Silence Breakers” (5:00)
In 2017, TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year were the “Silence Breakers,” honoring those who spoke out against sexual assault and sexual violence.

IV.	“Sanctuary” (8:00)
“Sanctuary” is a term that has come to the fore in the news and media, particularly around issues regarding asylum seekers and immigration in general. 

V.	“Home” (13:55)
“Home” very simply refers to our planet. This is a fervent—if somewhat angered—prayer that somehow, someway, we’ll be able to address urgent issues revolving around climate change, sustainability, and the future of our planet.

Written for and dedicated to counter)induction. With deep gratitude to Miranda, Jessica, Adam, and Dan. Premiered at Adelphi University, 7 March 2020.

Five Prayers of Hope (for guitar, violin, viola, and piano; 2020)

When Yael Weiss commissioned me to write a work in response to one of the Beethoven sonatas as part of her project “32 Bright Clouds,” I knew immediately which specific sonata I would choose: Op. 10, No. 3. As an undergraduate, this was one of the works that I analyzed, studied, and learned. In particular, I was drawn to the second movement’s overwhelming pathos that opened to the joy of the third movement. Unheard Voices dwells on the emotional content of this second movement while looking forward to the hope suggested by the third. In this new work, I ask Yael to perform the my composition while at the same time listening privately to a recording of the Beethoven movement with headphones. (This is a technique that I learned about from composer/pianist Jocelyn Ho.) As a result, two separate yet joint experiences occur simultaneously: the audience hears my piece being performed by the pianist whose interpretation of the music is in turn mediated, circumscribed, and informed by something that the audience can’t hear. 

Unheard Voices also uses another technique, which I heard about from composer Felippo Perocco, who devised a creative process that involves “carving away” notes from a pre-existing work. For Unheard Voices, using the second movement of Op. 10, No. 3 as the canvas upon which I created my piece, I “carved away” many of the notes, keeping a certain few and echoing others (like ghostly whispers) in the piano gestures. Embedded toward the end of Unheard Voices is a quote from the “Agnus Dei” of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis on the text dona nobis pacem: a plea for peace that is the underpinning of Yael’s commissioning project. 

Unheard Voices is dedicated to the victims of vigilante violence and extra-judicial killings that have happened in the Philippines, whose voices remain tragically unheard.

"Unheard Voices" (for solo piano; Yael Weiss, Live Performance; 2018)

Sidney Marquez Boquiren grew up in the Philippines and has spent most of his adult life in the United States. He collaborates with artists on various projects including Biblical illumination; multimedia and multi-sensory art experience; chamber opera; and dance. He has received commissions from the German vocal quintet, amarcord; harpist, Tasha Smith Godinez; the contemporary ensemble, counter)induction; and Parhelion Trio. He is one of 32 artists in the international roster commissioned to compose new solo piano works for Yael Weiss’ “32 Bright Clouds”. His compositions are often informed, influenced, and shaped by contemporary concerns; his Catholic faith; and his Philippine identity.

A MacDowell Fellow, Sidney is Professor of Music at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. He sings with the Ignatian Schola as well as the choir of The Church of St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan, New York.

Sidney Marquez Boquiren

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks