Lek (2023)
for String Quartet

Duration: 10 minutes
Premiere: April 16, 2023, Fry Street Quartet, Salt Lake City, Utah

This playful yet poignant work takes inspiration from the outrageous courtship dances of the Greater Sage-Grouse and Sharp-Tailed Grouse, whose early-morning mating rituals fill the high plains with percussive, otherworldly sounds. Their elaborate performances—risky, exhausting, and beautiful—reflect a deep instinct to choose beauty over efficiency. The piece asks whether we can learn to value their wild performances before they fade into silence. Commissioned for the Fry Street Quartet by NOVA Chamber Music Series and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.

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El Correcaminos (2021)
for String Quartet

Duration: 22 minutes
Premiere: April 2021, Fry Street Quartet, San Francisco, California

Inspired by the roadrunner—New Mexico’s state bird and a symbol of resilience, mystery, and movement—this quartet traces the layered histories of the American Southwest in reverse. Each of its four movements reflects the perspectives of those who came to call the region home, from Indigenous and Mexican traditions to American settlers, woven together through symmetrical musical structures and evolving harmonic language. Playful, reverent, and rhythmically driven, the piece invites us to see the land—and the roadrunner—through many sets of eyes. Commissioned and premiered by Friction Quartet.

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Rinconcito (2018)
for Guitar, Violin, Viola & Cello

Duration: 16 minutes
Premiere: May 2018, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, San Francisco, California

Named after one of the composer’s mother’s favorite songs, Rinconcito imagines a quiet corner of heaven where the living and the dead can meet through music. Drawing on the spirit of New Mexican folk traditions, the piece blends atmospheric textures with dance rhythms, weaving intervals of fourths and fifths (for the ancestors) with thirds and sixths (for the living). It is both a tribute to the composer’s grandfathers and a meditation on memory, inheritance, and the music we carry between generations. Commissioned by Will and Linda Schieber for Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.

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The Color Festivals (2016)
for Harpsichord & String Quartet

Duration: 16.5 minutes
Premiere: February 2016, Elevate Ensemble, San Francisco, California

Inspired by a century-old children’s book once read aloud to the composer by his father, this whimsical suite draws from Told by the Sandman (1916), a collection of magical stories notable for centering girls and women as heroes. Like Ravel’s Mother Goose, the piece is designed for young listeners but written with the complexity and charm to engage adults as well. Scored for solo harpsichord, it blends baroque gestures with playful storytelling, inviting performers to personalize the music through improvisation and ornamentation. Commissioned and premiered by Elevate Ensemble.

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Recyclate (2015)
for Flute, Oboe, Bass Clarinet, Violin, Viola & Cello

Duration: 6 minutes
Premiere: June 1, 2025, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, San Francisco, California

Inspired by El Anatsui’s monumental Hovor II, a shimmering tapestry made from discarded liquor bottle foils, this piece explores themes of transformation, memory, and reuse. Like Anatsui’s work, which reveals intricate detail within grand scale, the music recycles fragments and sounds from the composer’s own creative past—spinning them into a vibrant, rhythmically charged dance. Recyclate celebrates the beauty in what remains, and the expressive power of reassembly.

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i thank You God for this amazing day (2014)
for SATB Choir

Text: e.e. cummings
Duration: 4 minutes

This celebratory choral work reflects on the beauty of the natural world and the long tradition of artists drawing inspiration from it. Rooted in the simple joy of sitting outside—whether on a park bench or in the shadow of mountains—it captures the fleeting, infinite feeling of sunlight, earth, and stillness in harmony. Commissioned for the SFCM Choral Composition Competition, the piece was premiered by the International Orange Chorale under the direction of Zane Fiala.

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A bird came down the walk (2011)
for SSAA Choir
Text: Emily Dickinson
Duration: 3 minutes

Set to Emily Dickinson’s poem A Bird Came Down the Walk, this work features sudden mood shifts, fractured text setting, and shimmering pandiatonic harmonies. Both delicate and dramatic, it captures the wonder of observing nature up close—an experience that stirred the composer’s imagination long before collaborating with living poets. Originally commissioned by Musae under the direction of Ryan Brandau, the piece remains a deeply personal reflection on poetry, memory, and the quiet magic of watching the world unfold.

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Dolores (2025)

Libretto: Marella Martin Koch
Orchestration: Sop, Mezzo-Sop, 3 Ten, Bar, BBar, Chorus—1(Picc).0.1(Bcl).Asax.1—1.1.1.Btbn.0—Perc—Pf—Egtr—Str
Duration: 2 hours
Premiere: August 2, 2025, West Edge Opera, Oakland, California

The story of activist Dolores Huerta’s bold commitment to civil and workers rights movements, against great odds, the pressure of US politics, and the tragedy of assassination. Commissioned by West Edge Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Southwest, and BroadStage as part of the Pacific Opera Initiative.

Tres Minutos (2022)

Libretto: Marella Martin Koch
Orchestration: Sop, Ten, Bar, Cl, Pf, Vln, Vla, Vlc, Cb
Duration: 45 minutes
Premiere: May 15, 2022, Music of Remembrance, Seattle, Washington

A chamber opera inspired by a real program that reunites families separated by immigration policies at the U.S. - Mexico Border, but only for three minutes, Tres Minutos imagines the story of Diego and Nila, a brother and sister who share DNA but not citizenship. When Diego is deported, leaving Nila behind, questions of identity, duty, and belonging threaten to consume them. Commissioned by Music of Remembrance (Mina Miller, founder and artistic director) and made possible by a generous award from the Clovis Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Pepito (2019)

Libretto: Marella Martin Koch
Orchestration:
Duration: 22 minutes

Pepito, a lonely shelter dog, misses his old family and his old life. Camila and David, young married professionals, are searching for the perfect dog. As the cracks in Camila and David's marriage deepen, Camila and and Pepito form an unshakeable bond. This work can also be performed with piano accompaniment.

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Querencia (2024)

Orchestration: 2.Picc.2.Ca.2.Bcl.2.Cbsn—4.3.2.Btbn.1—Timp.4 Perc—Hp—Str
Duration: 8 minutes
Premiere: April 20, 2024, New York Philharmonic and Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra with conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, New York, NY

A heartfelt tribute to the composer's grandfather, Eduardo Garcia—a New Mexican folk accordionist and beloved first mentor. Blending classical and norteña traditions, the piece honors the deep-rooted sense of home, memory, and belonging that he embodied. Designed for performance by either a single professional orchestra or in a side-by-side setting with a student orchestra, it celebrates the lasting impact of those who guide us, offering young musicians a moment of connection—and a sense of querencia—of their own. Commissioned by The Juilliard School Preparatory Division, in partnership with American Composers Forum and the New York Philharmonic, powered by the Sphinx Venture Fund.

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Acequia (2024)

Orchestration: 2.Picc.2.Ca.2.Bcl.2.Cbsn—4.3.2.Btbn.1—Timp.3 Perc—Hp—Str
Duration: 9.5 minutes
Premiere: April 27, 2024, San Francisco Conservatory of Music orchestra with conductor Edwin Outwater, San Francisco, California

Inspired by the communal irrigation traditions of New Mexico, this work traces the journey of water from mountain snowpack to field and aquifer, echoing the rhythms of the land and its people. It reflects a way of life rooted in shared stewardship—now endangered by climate change—and honors those who continue to tend the land with care and memory. Both a meditation and a call to attention, the piece celebrates the fragile, ongoing dialogue between humans and the natural world. Commissioned by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra with gracious support from Justus and Elizabeth Schlichting.

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Doña Sebastiana (2023)

Orchestration: Violin Soloist and String Orchestra
Duration: 9 minutes
Premiere: November 2, 2023, New Century Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Hope, conductor and soloist, San Francisco, CA

Rooted in a haunting New Mexican folk tale, this piece reimagines the story of Doña Sebastiana—Santa Muerte—as a violin soloist guiding a woodcutter through temptation, transformation, and consequence. Drawing on both colonial and contemporary symbolism, it explores themes of justice, mortality, and the human tendency to test divine boundaries. Through this musical retelling, the figure of death becomes not a villain, but a keeper of balance in a world too often tilted by greed. Commissioned by New Century Chamber Orchestra and Music Director Daniel Hope as part of the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music.

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Ricercares interválicos (2025)
for Piano

Duration: 12.5 minutes
Premiere: May 2, 2025, Mark Stevens, Brookings, South Dakota

This set of six miniatures explores the expressive potential of musical intervals, with each movement built entirely from a single interval type—second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh. Inspired by an assignment the composer once received (and now passes on to his own students), the work becomes both a rigorous compositional exercise and a richly varied sonic journey. Ricercares interválicos honors the idea that creative limitation can unlock surprising freedom—and that in seeking, we discover.

Dum spiro… (2015)
for Viola (or Two Violas in Canon) with Audience Participation

Duration: 8-11 minutes

Titled after the Latin phrase Dum spiro spero (“While I breathe, I hope”), this piece draws inspiration from the elemental act of breathing, as explored in the work of Pauline Oliveros. Written for solo or duo viola—with or without audience participation—it invites performers and listeners alike into a shared space of quiet reflection and attentive presence. At once simple and expansive, Dum spiro… is a meditation on breath, sound, and being.

Sueño en mi sueño (2025)
for Tenor, Oboe & String Quartet

Text: Pablo Neruda
Duration: 28 minutes
Premiere: April 7, 2025, Joshua Blue, tenor, Anne Marie Gabriele, oboe, with students from The Juilliard School, New York, NY

This poignant song cycle sets six Pablo Neruda sonnets and explores love in the face of illness, inspired by the story of oboist Anne Marie Gabriele and her late husband, Mike Pandolfi. Scored for tenor and oboe soloists with string quartet—partners in both grief and grace—the work honors the strength of caregivers, the vulnerability of those being cared for, and the enduring power of love. At once intimate and universal, it asks how we carry our loved ones forward, even after they’re gone. Commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting in honor of Mike Pandolfi.

Canto Caló (2023)
for Mezzo-Soprano & String Quartet (or Piano)

Duration: 16 minutes
Premiere: May 5, 2023, Melinda Martinez Becker, mezzo-soprano & Friction Quartet, San Francisco, California

This song cycle is a living tribute to memory, language, and inheritance—an exploration of how our grandparents’ stories, sayings, and songs continue to shape who we are. Blending English, Spanish, and Caló—the expressive dialect of Pachuco culture that gave rise to a lasting Chicano movement—the piece draws on nursery rhymes, wartime reflections, family idioms, and traditional musical forms. It’s not nostalgia, but an act of preservation—rooted in the present, sung by those who remember. Written for Melinda Martinez Becker & Anne Rainwater with support from InterMusicSF.

When I was a child (2018)
for Mezzo-Soprano & Viola

Text: Erin Bregman
Duration: 6.5 minutes

Where everything is music (2018)
for Voice & Two Guitars

Text: Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
Duration: 5.5 minutes

The oldest thirst there is (2017)
for Soprano & Cello

Text: Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
Duration: 5 minutes

Three Lorca Songs (2014)
for Mezzo-Soprano & Guitar

Text: Federico García Lorca, translated by Alan S. Trueblood
Duration: 10.5 minutes

This song cycle sets the poetry of Federico García Lorca—whose politically charged life and deep ties to Spanish folklore shaped some of the 20th century’s most vivid verse. Written for Jarring Sounds, the work draws on baroque forms while blending jazz and folk influences to illuminate the raw humanity of Lorca’s texts. Premiered in 2014 through a collaboration with the Guerrilla Composers Guild, the cycle bridges old and new, tradition and experimentation.