Program Note

This is one of several pieces in a series called The Simple Songs. With these, I strive to communicate the kind of simple honesty that often attracts me in much of the art I seek out. 

In works I’ve come to love by Mark Rothko, Elizabeth Gourley, and Mary Oliver (among others), I appreciate the power of each artist’s directness, the spirituality they convey, and the space they provide. In the best of these works, that space carries an invitation to participate, but not the rules for participation. At the same time, many of these works use language that is seemingly simple and effortless, allowing each of us the opportunity to make up our own rules when we engage their art.

This work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Bill Ryan and the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble.