This summer I had the pleasure of participating in the Art Song Lab 2022, where I was paired with Vancouver poet Cecil Hershler. The fruit of our collaboration was a piece for tenor and piano called Memories, which was premiered by Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano, and Asitha Tennekoon, tenor.

Memories is a dialogue between East Asian and Jewish musical elements, with text by Cecil based on his family story, which depicts the multi-generational migration of a Jewish family.

More than a biographical account, the poem underlines the shared experience of persecution and dispersion of the Jewish people, and points to the hope for a world free of prejudice and fear, where all regardless of their colour and ethnicity may thrive together in peace.

My gratitude to Cecil, for his generosity, and to Rachel and Asitha, for their invaluable insight and for premiering this piece.

For more information about the Art Song Lab and the newly premiered works in 2022, visit http://www.artsonglab.com/