works » small chamber ensemble

This commission has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Commissioned by Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra
Year Composed: 2023
Duration: 0:10:00

Program Notes:

According to the World Health Organization, a new case of dementia is diagnosed every 3 seconds. Following a brain injury, my aunt was diagnosed with dementia and woke up believing she was back in San José where she used to live decades earlier. Other family members are starting to show symptoms for this condition which, despite common misconception, is not a normal part of aging. This piece evokes the second movement of Elgar’s Serenade for Strings reimagined through a Baroque instrumentation. Marked at quarter note equals 80, each bar equals exactly 3 seconds, representing the 200 people that will be diagnosed at the conclusion of this 10-minute piece.