Orchestra - 1.picc.1.2.2.bcl.2—4.3.3.1.—timp—2perc.—hp—strings
Duration: 12’
Commissioned by the Texas Medical Center Orchestra. Premiered by the Texas Medical Center Orchestra November 10, 2024 at Zilkha Hall (Houston, TX).
Program note
Lost Child was written in memory of my brother, who struggled with mental illness for many years before dying from a drug overdose in July 2022, two days after my birthday. The piece is not an attempt to narrate those events or to depict grief directly. Instead, it inhabits a quieter emotional space, one shaped by memory, absence, and the fragile persistence of love after loss.
The music unfolds slowly, lingering on simple gestures that evoke something childlike: melodies that seem to search, harmonies that hover without resolution, and silences that become as meaningful as sound itself. Rather than seeking catharsis, Lost Child invites stillness. It offers a space for reflection, meditation, and contemplation, honoring not only the tragedy of a life cut short, but also the innocence, tenderness, and humanity that endure in memory long after someone is gone.