After the Freeze (2022): version for strings, tabla, sitar and Hindustani or Carnatic vocalist.

Commissioned by Ryan Ross and the Allen Philharmonic.

The original version of After the Freeze was created during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Vaccines were not yet available to the general public, so as freezing temperates and rolling blackouts pummeled the southern U.S., the levels of isolation we experienced during this time reached an all-time high. I decided to try to capture this experience in a piece of music: a group of individuals faced with the same information/challenges, but physically separated. The result was an open-score piece/video installation that serves as a living document of that time. One of my intentions with the original version was to discover whether different musical styles/approaches could harmoniously co-exist with a minimum of direction given.

This version attempts to achieve the same between Indian classical music, contemporary Western classical music, and several other genres that influence my work. It has also necessarily been adapted and expanded to bring it to life for a string orchestra and classical Indian musicians, and I’m very grateful to Ryan for the opportunity to allow me to do so and give this piece a new life.

First performance given on February 18, 2023 by the Allen Philharmonic, directed by Ryan Ross.

Recording below by Ventura College Chamber Orchestra, with Neelamjit Dhillon (tabla) and Mayuri Vasan (voice).