Finding the Light

When I began seriously considering the focus of this recital last fall, the world felt heavy. By January, as I finalized my program, that heaviness had deepened. Each passing day brought news that felt more disheartening—acts of hate, growing polarization, and a widespread erosion of empathy. As rights were being erased, marginalized communities threatened, my musical work began to feel strangely disconnected from reality. I questioned what purpose this kind of work could possibly serve in a moment like this.

Working in a historic art form, I turned to history. I began exploring songs that were born from times of immense hardship, and I found that even in the darkest chapters of human experience, art has never stopped. Artists have always processed the world through their work—trying to understand, reflect, and heal through it. In times of great change it is important to understand how we got here and how we might be able to move forward.

The music in this recital moves chronologically through history, exploring how composers and poets from across time have used their music to make better sense of the world around them.