Works

Commissioned by Collage New Music, Elegy is a reflection on death and a search for reconciliation with it.

The harmonic and rhythmic language is opaque, with thoughts and emotions entangled. Fragmented musical ideas reflect the incoherence of memories and the struggle to grasp what is no longer tangible. Embroidered into the music is an image inspired by my grandparents, whose ashes were scattered into a river in accordance with my grandfather's will. At times, the music evokes the river's current and the shimmering reflections of light on rippling water, where our past and our pain sink and dissipate into the perpetual flow.

Performed by Collage New Music

Anna Handler, CONDUCTOR

Sarah Brady, FLUTE; Alexis Lanz, CLARINET; Heather Braun, VIOLIN; Jan Müller-Szeraws, CELLO; Christopher Oldfather, PIANO; Craig McNutt, PERCUSSION

String Quartet No. 5 "Excerpts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas" comprises two movements, each paired with a story from The Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海经, Shanhai Jing), a compendium of Chinese mythology dating to the 4th century.

Movement I – Kui 夔

“This creature is called Kui. Its voice sounds like thunder. When it rises from the water or sinks back in, wind and rain always follow, and its radiance is like that of the sun and the moon. The great god Yellow Emperor captured Kui and made a drum from its hide. The sound of that drum carried for five hundred leagues, and all under heaven trembled with fear.”

Movement II – Tang Gu 汤⾕

“Below this land lies Tang Gu, the Valley of Hot Waters. There the ten suns bathe. In Tang Gu grows the Leaning Mulberry, a great tree rising out of the water. Nine suns rest on its lower branches, and one on the highest.”

Performed by the Lydian String Quartet Clara Lyon, violin I Julia Glenn, violin II Mark Berger, viola Joshua Gordon, cello Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on Dec 12, 2025.