Save It in My Jewelry Box (2019)

Scored for soprano and string quartet, on a text by New York City homeless shelter patron “M. M.” This was composed as part of the “Forgotten Voices” project, in which 15 composers wrote songs to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Music Kitchen, an organization led by NYC violinist (and FAC grad! We are so proud of her!) Kelly Hall Tompkins. The Music Kitchen’s core purpose is to stage live classical music concerts in homeless shelters; many top-rank players have contributed to this effort. For the “Forgotten Voices” project, songs were composed on texts by homeless shelter patrons who - in the course of those 15 years - wrote down their reactions to the concerts they had heard. M.M.’s text dwells on her enthusiastic and child-like reaction to the music she has heard in a Music Kitchen concert.  She includes much youthful imagery – difficulty in sitting still while listening, wanting to be held, sprawling on the floor, and a jewelry box that perhaps she owned in her early years.  She acknowledges the “world’s ruin” in which she now lives, but celebrates the power of the music – “like a puppet and her master” – to transport her away from it.  The shifting moods of the setting here strive to underscore these sentiments with lyrical melody, abundant pizzicati, lush trills and tremelandi, and a gentle triple meter that might be suitable to children’s music; there remains, however, a darker edge to remind one that M.M. does not live in a nurtured children’s world. About 4:00; range E4-A5.

This will not be made available until the Carnegie Hall premiere has been performed by Music Kitchen musicians… the premiere has been delayed owing to the shutdown from Covid-19. More developments later.