For SATB & piano
 
After just getting back from my premiere in Oregon with one of my first pieces, The Cosmic Lullaby, I was asked to write a choral piece for the Areté Vocal Ensemble. I did not have many ideas on what to write, so I asked my friend, Madeline Biggs, to write a poem for inspiration. A day later she comes back with Dust, a poem about the recent event of the infamous Woolsey Fire. It was a massive Fire that spread rapidly through Southern California and my hometown, Thousand Oaks. In just a few days it burnt down 96,949 acres of land, 1,643 structures, killed three people, and caused more than 295,000 people to evacuate their homes. So this piece is about the sublimity of fire and destruction, and for the people who have suffered greatly due to this tragic event.
 
Lyrics:
The beauty of the flames drew a crowd
But the bite of hell made them cry out loud
Lying broken in a pile of what could have been
Ashes are all that’s left of wearing too thin
Dust filled faces and skin burned red
Fools to think we’d seen the end of bloodshed
The mothers and the fathers shielding those they hold dear
From the monster of death that never fails to strike fear
Until, suddenly a lone soul stirred
Standing up, surveying the damage of the herd
And then one after the other, like some unpullable weed
Lending hands to the weak and refusing to secede
The blanket of dust shifted around those who are lost
And the victims left lying outlined the cost
But ashes do not define us riddled with grief
For dust is temporary, and healing is a belief
 
Duration:
c. 3'50"
 
Performances:
Premiered by Areté Vocal Ensemble, April 2024