Song of the Clay, Vines, and Stars (2004) 14' for throat-singer, clarinet/bass clarinet, electric guitar, harp, piano, percussion, viola, and contrabass

This piece was premiered on August 2, 2004, as part of the Composers' House Band project at the Tanglewood Music Center.

I have been singing in my own pieces, and pieces by my colleagues, quite a bit in the last few years. Something I wanted to do for a while, however, was write myself a big solo piece, a piece for "me and the band." Song of the Clay, Vines, and Stars is that piece; it is also - like much of my music - a ritual from a nonexistant country, with meditation, prayer, and ecstatic trance.