Commissioned by the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival
Growing up, my family visited a place called Stehekin several times, most recently this summer. Stehekin is a tiny community adjacent to the North Cascades National Park in Washington State. It sits at the very end of Lake Chelan and is only accessible by float plane or a long ferry ride. Only around ninety people live in Stehekin year-round, and there is no phone or internet access.
This summer, we rented fishing poles and tried our luck. It turns out, the most unlikely suspect, my sister, became obsessed with fishing! She was trying morning and night. She was desperate to catch a fish--I had never seen her so determined. Finally, she caught a
huge rainbow trout! It was a very exciting moment. I had an idea to write a series of “River Songs”. The first movement, titled “A Fish Will Rise”, is a reference to a favorite book of mine, Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. On the last page, he writes: “...all existence fades to a being with my soul and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.” The second movement re-imagines some material from a previous work, and is called “Massing
Clouds.” Finally, the third movement is titled “Swan Song”. Here, I imagine Norman Maclean fishing the waters alone among the shadows, as an old man. This work is
dedicated to my sister, Bethany.
Premiered by Ida Kavafian, Efe Baltacigil, and Anne-Marie McDermott in January 2015
2022
This work was commissioned by La Jolla SummerFest and premiered at the Conrad in La Jolla, CA in August 2022.
2021
Written for Edgar Meyer and the Dover Quartet in 2021
2020
Commissioned by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
2018
Commissioned by Chamber Music America with generous funding provided by the Mellon Foundation
2018
Commissioned By Efe Baltacigil And Nicolas Kendall
2018
Commissioned By Chamber Music Northwest, With Support From New Music USA
2016
Written for Demarre, Anthony McGill, and Michael McHale
2015
Commissioned By Chamber Music Northwest
2014
Commissioned by the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival
2013
Commissioned by the Buffalo Chamber Music Society for the Attacca Quartet
2013
Commissioned by Orchestra 2001
2012
Commissioned by the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington
2010
Written For The Aspen Contemporary Ensemble
2010
Commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music
2009
Commissioned By Curtis-on-tour for Benjamin Beilman and Yekwon Sunwoo
2009
Commissioned by Music From Angel Fire, Ida Kavafian, Director
2008
Commissioned By The Curtis Institute Of Music
2007
2008 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Award
