In Stillness I Sing

Commissioned by San Francisco Girls Chorus directed by Valérie Sainte-Agathe with Sarah Cahill, piano.
From June 2021 - April 2022, the piece was broadcast over four episodes of “Revolutions Per Minute” on KALW with Sarah Cahill in conversation with Valérie Sainte-Agathe, Theresa Wong and members of the chorus. Premiered live at San Francisco Bayview Opera House, March 13th, 2022

I composed this piece in close collaboration with the singers of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and pianist Sarah Cahill during some very dark days of the pandemic. For five weeks between December 2020 and January 2021, the singers and I created prompts centered around their ongoing experiences in lock-down, which they could respond to in writing, drawings, poetry, voice memos and videos. These responses were accessible to them all, as I intended the project to be a 'space' to process and share the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, while also giving them an active role in the co-creation of the work. I composed the piece utilizing a small portion of the resulting material, which includes voice memos recorded by individual singers during this time, written reflections, sounds recorded from home, and musical motifs they generated through improvisation. During the tumult of those still days – as everyone rehearsed tirelessly alone over zoom in their room, I felt moved by the spirit of joy, humor, wisdom, and resilience that these young voices shared with me. Between June 2021 and February 2022, excerpts of the piece – recorded first through the use of JackTrip Virtual Studio, a remote recording technology, and eventually in a live recording session (with masks!), were broadcast on Sarah's KALW radio program, Revolutions Per Minute along with conversations with artistic director Valérie Sainte-Agathe, myself and several choristers. A final broadcast of the entire piece took place in April 2022. I am deeply grateful to SFGC and especially to Valérie, Sarah, Elaine Robertson, Justin Montigne, and all the wonderful singers for their inspiration and dedication through these tough times. Read the texts used in this work here.