Program Listing

Songs from the Bleeding Pines (2016)
I. The Shore of an Ancient Sea
II. The Whisper of God
III. Peace Be Still Burning World

Program Notes

I am always looking for new texts to set for when the opportunity presents itself to write vocal music. I find myself drawn to words that deliver a message about the state of the world around us, be it in the poignant images of the powerful wartime poetry of Katie Ford and Walt Whitman, or in the elegant language of Ray Owen, inspired by nature and moved by conservation. 

"Songs from the Bleeding Pines" is set on texts by the North Carolina author Ray Owen. Owen's play "The Bleeding Pines of Turpentine" serves as the inspiration for the poetry, and there are plans afoot to adapt the play into an opera in the future. "Songs from the Bleeding Pines" also tells the story of the play in essential snapshots, focusing on the extraordinary ancient virgin forest of long-leaf round top pines in Southern Pines, North Carolina--and it's rescue from near extinction by Helen Boyd Dull in the early twentieth century. Her spirit speaks throughout the text.

"Songs from the Bleeding Pines" was commissioned by RSMI as a part of my residency with the vocal program and I am ever grateful for the opportunity to write a new work for these incredible musicians. To have these voices speak as my voice is a dream for this composer.