M E R A K I

Meraki, (pronounced: meh·ruh·kai), was composed during the COVID-19 pandemic summer of 2020 and finished in 2021. The piece begins with a communal gathering of breath, inviting and shaping the ensemble's participation through wave-like gestures. The invitation of sound is presented in a marimba duet that evolves in to a wash of textural and timbral colors through out the ensemble. The piece continues to ebb and flow, emulating the beginning breath gestures, until the final swell into the exultant ending. While the piece wasn't created with a direct narrative between events, reflection on the structure of the piece, the structure resembles my own experience of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, from meditative beginnings, developing mindfulness, restructuring, and evolution of expectations.

​

Meraki was composed as a commissioned work for the

Washington State University Symphonic Wind Ensembles Director, Dr. Danh Pham.