Works

flute, clarinet, trumpet, percussion (triangle, vibraphone), accordion, violin, cello, and soprano

Text:

Il y a bien des années de cela.

It was a very long time ago.

La possibilité de telles heures ne renaîtra jamais pour moi.

The possibility of such hours will never be reborn for me.

Mais depuis peu de temps, je recommence à très bien percevoir si je prête l’oreille.

But for a little while now, I have begun to hear again very clearly, if I take care to listen.

En réalité ils n’ont jamais cessé;

They have never really stopped;

et c’est seulement parce que la vie se tait maintenant davantage autour de moi que je les entends de nouveau,

and it is only because life is now becoming quieter around me that I can hear them again,

comme ces cloches de couvents que couvrent si bien les bruits de la ville pendant le jour qu’on les croirait arrêtées

like those convent bells covered so well by the clamor of the town during the day that one would think they had ceased altogether

mais qui se remettent à sonner dans le silence du soir.

but which begin sounding again in the silence of the evening.

Marcel Proust

Swann’s Way

(Translated by Lydia Davis)

Performed by Ensemble Télémaque:

Charlotte Campana, flute

Linda Amrani, clarinet

Gérard Occello, trumpet

Julia Sinoimeri, accordion

Christian Bini, percussion

Yann Le Roux-Sèdes, violin

Jean-Florent Gabriel, cello

Brigitte Peyré, soprano

Raoul Lay, conductor

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on April 18, 2026.

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

flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet in Bb, horns in F, crotales, vibraphone, harp, violin, cello

Erlebnis (second stanza)

Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Ein namenloses Heimweh weinte lautlos

In meiner Seele nach dem Leben, weinte,

Wie einer weint, wenn er auf großem Seeschiff

Mit gelben Riesensegeln gegen Abend

Auf dunkelblauem Wasser an der Stadt,

Der Vaterstadt, vorüberfährt. Da sieht er

Die Gassen, hört die Brunnen rauschen, riecht

Den Duft der Fliederbüsche, sieht sich selber.

Ein Kind, am Ufer stehn, mit Kindesaugen,

Die ängstlich sind und weinen wollen, sieht

Durchs offne Fenster Licht in seinem Zimmer –

Das große Seeschiff aber trägt ihn weiter,

Auf dunkelblauem Wasser lautlos gleitend

Mit gelben, fremdgeformten Riesensegeln.

(tr. Mary Kinzie)

A nameless yearning wept for life

Without a sound within my soul, weeping

As one might when, on an ocean vessel

With massive yellow sails against the waves

Of Persian blue toward evening, he is borne

Along the city that was home. He sees there

Lanes, hears lapping springs, smells

Perfume from the lilacs, sees himself,

A child upon the bank with a child's eyes,

Anxious and about to cry; and then sees

Through the open window a light on in his room -

But the great ship conveys him out to sea

On dark blue water, gliding soundlessly

With massive yellow otherworldly sails.

Performed by Ensemble Dal Niente:

Emma Hospelhorn, flute

Zachary Good, clarinet

Matthew Oliphant, horn

Kyle Flens, percussions

Ben Melsky, harp

Theo Ramsey, violin

Juan Horie, cello

Michael Lewanski, conductor

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on March 11, 2023.

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.

Performed by the Lydian String Quartet

Julia Glenn, violin I

Clara Lyon, violin II

Mark Berger, viola

Joshua Gordon, cello

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on Dec 14, 2024.

Performed by the Lydian String Quartet

Andrea Segar, violin I

Julia Glenn, violin II

Mark Berger, viola

Joshua Gordon, cello

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on Dec 10, 2023.

Performed by the Lydian String Quartet

Julia Glenn, violin I

Clara Lyon, violin II

Mark Berger, viola

Joshua Gordon, cello

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on Dec 13, 2022.

Performed by the Lydian String Quartet

Andrea Segar, violin I

Lilit Hartunian, violin II

Mark Berger, viola

Joshua Gordon, cello

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on Dec 18, 2021.

Performed by Lamnth

Lilit Hartunian, violin

Nicholas Tolle, cimbalom

Recorded at Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall on February 28, 2025.