Instrumentation
Flute, Crotales, Piano, Mezzo-Soprano, Violin, Violoncello
Completed
February 2025
Premiered
March 6, 2025
National Sawdust; New York, NY
Performed by Ginevra Petrucci, Sae Hashimoto, Blair McMillen, Lucy Dhegrae, Miranda Cuckson, Jeffrey Zeigler.
Program Note
Early last year, I looked at myself in the mirror and, for the first time in years, genuinely loved who I saw.
Sadly, my situation isn’t an anomaly–it doesn’t take much effort to internalize what this world thinks of black women; the practice of calling a black woman’s femininity and personhood into question is overwhelmingly and unacceptably common. So, how do we, as a community, break free from such a white supremacist framework? How do we strive to love ourselves regardless of how we are perceived?
“Our power a prism” is an ode to black womanhood, affirming that freedom cannot be reached if love, respect, and care for other black women aren’t present. Its central argument maintains that the strenuous process of freeing yourself from the societal view of you and your black body requires the effort to see yourself in your sister. (“‘Sister” meaning your friend, your coworker, the woman you see every day at the bus stop…a member of your community that you must learn to uplift, encourage, and love.)
A celebration of sisterhood, blackness, and resilience, “our power a prism” is a work that further motivates its listeners to engage with their community, to maintain a sense of hope, and to commit to transforming rays of light into rainbows every chance we get.
(2025)