Program Note:

Nakesha Williams was a brilliant scholar and dancer who graduated from Williams College, but succumbed to mental illness and died homeless in New York City. I was deeply moved by a newspaper article about her. Her story made me reflect on my own life, and reminded me of others I've known who have come and gone. I felt compelled to dedicate the piece to her beautiful but tragic memory.

The music is a meditation on the act of letting go, as well as the idea of what could have been. It is a farewell towards those who have fallen to the demons that live inside us, and a leaving behind of inner conflict. At times the music invokes affirmation and peace, but despair, isolation, exhaustion, and rust also manifest.

The last movement specifically deals with the relationship of feeling and time. Melodic fragments, representing thoughts, interact with a chorale and chorale- like fragments, eternity. 

Performances:

• New Fromm Players, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Lenox, Massachusetts, August 13, 2023.