For Kristina (October 2017)
Originally commissioned by the UC Davis Revisions Festival 2018 for The Living Earth Show, this piece’s title comes from the first friend I ever made at UC Davis, Kristina Finseth. We met blindfolded on a dark and fateful night. Fear and anticipation mixed together as we introduced ourselves, blindly waiting for the event to begin. But, as soon as our blindfolds were off we were moved apart. I only remembered her voice and the darkness of the night. (Later, I heard her voice and recognized it and asked her to be my friend. She had no idea what she was getting into when she accepted. It’s been 8 years, there is no going back.) There is a sense of noise and oscillation that permeates this piece. It comes from my memories of that night, listening and talking together above the din of other voices and the quiet rumble of traffic.