List of Compositions

Orchestra/Large Ensemble

Symphony of the Hawai‘i Forests: Reflections on Ka Wai Ke Kumu Ola (2023) Full orchestra

Tear of the Clouds (2022) 1011-0000-4221

Arrow of Time (2016) sinfonietta

Ripple Effect (2013) sinfonietta; (2015) full orchestra

Terra Firma (2011) jazz ensemble

Daydreams (2010) wind ensemble

Undercurrent (2010) sinfonietta

Sunrise From a Distant Past (2007) full orchestra

Concerto for Orchestra (2006) full orchestra

Seaching the Constellations (2006) full orchestra

Chamber, Solo & Duo

Stillness in the Mist (2022) violin duo

Koholā Sings (2021) solo harp

A Melody From an Unknown Place (2020) solo violin

Adaptation Variations (2019) fl, cl, hn, percussion, vln, vla, vc

Wavelengths (2019) fl, cl, vln, vc

But Beautiful (2018) koto and cello

Faded Aura (2017) shakuhachi, fl, cl, vln, vc

American Postcards: Picture Brides (Hawaii 1908-1924) (2017) string quartet (doubling on ukulele)

Sunburnt (2017) bassoon or saxophone quartet

Snapshots (2017) alto saxophone and bassoon

Reenactment (2017) gayageum and electronics

Crosscurrents (2016) shamisen and violin

Doublethink (2015) saxophone quartet

Iridescence (2015) solo piano

To A Balloon Laden with Knowledge (2015) SSAATTBB Choir

Conversations in the Garden (2015) viola, guitar, piano, sound installation

City of Imagination (2015) erhu, dizi, yangqin, sheng, pipa, guzheng

Taepyeongga (2014) ajaeng, ob. guit. pno. perc.

Of the Moon (2014) shakuhachi and koto

The Distance of the Moon (2014) shakuhachi, koto, and string quartet

Vanishing Act (2013-14) vln, piano, perc.

Secret Dimension (2013) cl, vln, vc, piano

A Glimpse of a Reflection (2013) guzheng and electronics

Trade Winds (2012) flute and piano

Across the Open Sky (2012) 2 violins, cello

Neon Flicker (2012) duo

Piano Trio (2012) violin, cello, piano

Palpitations (2011) alto saxophone solo

Afterimage (2011) cello solo

Parallel Divergence (2011) fl., b. cl., vln., vc., piano

Soliloquy (2010) piano solo

Intermezzo (2010) piano solo

Variations on a Theme by Brahms (2010) ob., c.a., cl., vln., vc.

Stargazing (2010) violin and electronics

Echolocation (2009) saxophone quartet

Event Horizon (2009) string quartet

Impromptu (2008) violin and piano

Automata (2008) piano solo

Sarcasms (2008) alto saxophone and piano

Toccata (2007) violin and piano

Delights and Shadows (2007) bass voice and piano

Recurrency (2007) cello octet

Imprints (2006) 2 pianos

Pins and Needles (2006) fl., cl., vln., vla., vc., piano

Sounds and Shapes (2004) fl., cl., vln., vc., piano, percussion

 

Sonnet: To A Balloon Laden with Knowledge (2015)

for SSAATTBB Choir

Text by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1812)

duration: 4.5 minutes

Listen:

Performers:

Score Excerpt: PDF

Perusal/Purchase: contact me

Performance History

Nov. 29, 2015: New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, conductor; National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY

 

Program Notes

This sonnet by Percy Shelley was written during a time when there was a craze sweeping through France and England over creating manned hot air balloons. These balloon flights (the oldest human-flying technology, a century before the Wright brothers) represented the reckless adventurousness of the inventors and scientists of the time, who risked their lives to fly these highly volatile and dangerous machines in order to be some of the first humans to see the world from high above, (as well as to achieve fame and glory).
While such scientific explorations using hot air balloons were taking place, Shelley was trying to achieve something else with balloons. A political revolutionary, Shelley launched small handmade balloons filled with his manifesto, “A Declaration of Rights” that espoused many of his radical ideas at the time (e.g. “Government has no rights”; “If a person's religious ideas correspond not with your own, love him nevertheless”; “Man, whatever be his country, has the same rights in one place as another, the rights of universal citizenship”) in hopes that it would instigate social change.
While the balloons were ineffective as a social agitator (or as a mode of transportation), they represented a glimmer of hope and optimism in the sky that is reflected in this poem.
This piece was commissioned and premiered by The New York Virtuoso Singers with Harold Rosenbaum conducting, on Nov. 29, 2015 at the National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY.

 

 

Sonnet: To a Balloon Laden with Knowledge

Bright ball of flame that through the gloom of even Silently takest thine aethereal way,
And with surpassing glory dimm'st each ray Twinkling amid the dark blue depths of Heaven,— Unlike the fire thou bearest, soon shalt thou Fade like a meteor in surrounding gloom, Whilst that, unquenchable, is doomed to glow
A watch-light by the patriot's lonely tomb;
A ray of courage to the oppressed and poor;
A spark, though gleaming on the hovel's hearth, Which through the tyrant's gilded domes shall roar; A beacon in the darkness of the Earth;
A sun which, o'er the renovated scene,
Shall dart like Truth where Falsehood yet has been.