Beauty of America (2021)

For solo piano
Duration: 3 minutes
Commissioned by Min Kwon for her America/Beautiful project

Program Note:

"America the Beautiful" has attained such a degree of cultural ubiquity that we can lose sight of the beleaguered hopefulness of the lyrics and weight of the melodic line. My piece, Beauty of America, was my attempt to color and subvert the familiarity of the melody with harmonies and counterpoint that put the complex poetry of the song front and center, to illustrate that it is through the peaceful, passionate intermingling of different experiences that we aspire to the truest beauty of what America represents.