This piece was awarded the 2023 American Prize in composition for short choral works.

The Second Coming was written in reaction to events that took place in July of 2020. In my home city of Portland, Oregon, federal troops were dispatched to quell peaceful protests that brought light to systemic injustice. These troops detained suspected protestors without probable cause, using unmarked vehicles to transport them to undisclosed locations. At hearing this news, combined with the existing fears surrounding a raging global pandemic, I was filled with a sense of apocalyptic dread. This same dread is expressed by William Butler Yeats’s poem of approximately 100 years ago, written after a period of war and disease. Yeats refers to history existing in a set of two conical spirals, which he terms “gyres”. At this point in history, he believed that the world was transitioning from one gyre to another, and at this confluence, some manner of apocalyptic revelation would take place.

This piece employs two main sets of musical material: one being the tone set D, E, G#, A, and B, which can be heard transposed, inverted, and quoted throughout the piece; the other focuses on bitonality between the keys of F major and B major. F and B being a tritone apart from one another, the tonic triads of these keys form three successive tritones. Being 6 chromatic semitones apart, this creates the musical numerical symbol 666, which is used to inspire a similar sense of apocalyptic dread. Additionally, sections of rhythmic ostinati feature the alto, tenor, and bass repeating patterns consisting of 3, 4, 7, and eventually 12 eighth notes, which have been used by numerologists to represent purity, holiness and perfection. In this instance, their inclusion may be interpreted in one of two ways: 1. That to put one’s faith in systems that are considered sacred and unchangeable is foolish, as those same systems can be what create the chaos we now see, or 2. That amidst the fear, chaos and hopelessness we experience on the surface level, there is some hope that some purity lies beneath the madness, and will be able to make the world whole again. The interpretation, I leave wholly in the heart of the listener.

My Sister Stood sets the beauty and innocence of Hilda Conkling's poem Elsa in three treble voices. The vast body of Conkling's poetry was written when she was between the ages of four and ten years old. She was known to speak poetically in conversation with her mother, who would write down what she had said. This particular poem focuses on Hilda's older sister, Elsa, who was two years older than Hilda was. I was particularly drawn to this poem because of its portrayal of beauty and adoration between siblings. In many ways, I draw parallels to my relationship with my brother, who is also two years my senior. Especially through the child's voice in the poem, I find myself recalling how much I admired and looked up to my brother in my youth, tumultuous though any sibling relationship may be.

The piece is written to be accessible by a young choir, but equally powerful when performed by a more mature choir. The piano provides stability to the singers by doubling the vocal lines while simultaneously providing sonic illustration of the rolling waves of the sea. The voices themselves grow in maturity throughout the piece, starting with simple static and contrary motion, but eventually growing into brief instances of three-part rounds and chordal harmonies. This, combined with its pervasive, yet delicate modality lends an aura of mystery to the piece that reflects the nature of memory central to the piece.