a string quartet is like a flock of birds for string quartet (2020) 
a string quartet is like a flock of birds was commissioned by Kinetic Ensemble in 2020. 

​i. meditation no. 1 – in shadow
ii. dance no. 1 – taking flight
iii. dance no. 2 – wind games
iv. meditation no. 2 – splintering
v. dance no. 3 – interplay of light and shadow
vi. meditation no. 3 – reflections
vii. dance no. 4 – interlocking
viii. meditation no. 4 – aurora
ix. dance no. 5 – dance of light
Kinetic Ensemble premieres a string quartet is like a flock of birds at Live Oak Friends Meeting House in November 2020
a string quartet is like a flock of birds grapples with the sense of isolation that so many musicians have felt for the last year. As I was writing it, I was thinking a lot recently about togetherness and apartness; how while we grieve and reckon with the collective trauma of the pandemic we've been isolated from one another, but at the same time we're still struggling to find new ways to connect. To me, a string quartet epitomizes these ideas: it's a coming together of disparate things, fusing solo virtuosity with a communal, receptive way of playing. All four parts are equal, and each player has to be both a follower and a leader.

a string quartet is like a flock of birds is structured in 9 interlocking movements, with slow, reflective meditations alternating with fast, rhythmic dances. The quartet explores ideas of togetherness: the 4 parts fit together like a puzzle, and only when they are perfectly enmeshed do melodies emerge. Each section in the piece is about the players finding each other: sometimes overlapping, sometimes drifting apart into chaotic motion, sometimes circling around each other like birds in flight.
​selected performances
November 2020 - Kinetic Ensemble, Textures of Change (livestream), ​Live Oak Friends Meeting House, Houston, TX