Fractured Water (2024)
for Chamber Or LARGE Orchestra
Orchestration: 1.Picc.2.1.Bcl.2—2.2.2.Btbn—Perc—Str
Duration: 11 minutes
Premiere: October 18, 2024, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra with Jory Fankuchen, conductor, San Francisco, California
Originally composed as a trio with water percussion and later expanded for orchestra, this work explores the life cycle of water and the urgent realities of pollution and conservation. Inspired by the Chicago River—whose famously reversed flow echoes through the piece in moments of musical retrograde—it reflects on our shifting relationship with this essential resource through lenses of concern, conflict, and hope. Commissioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the work also draws on the spiritual Down in the River to Pray, offering a gesture of resilience amid environmental crisis.