Most art forms can feed the soul, but they cannot free us from hunger*. They cannot house us. They cannot reduce carbon emissions*. What they can do, however, is help us envision a future where these are no longer concerns. They can give us the power to see what a world without poverty would look like*. They can help us better understand what it means to love, to be in community, to be free.

         My main focus in exploring these issues is through narrative driven structures in the context of opera, audio-visual work, and music with underlying text from speeches, poems, or interviews. In 2017, my first opera, The Process (based on Kafka's novel Der Prozeß) was premiered at Florida State University with the FSU Opera Department. I was hoping to follow the danger and stress of living in a surveillance state*. In 2020, I finished my second large-scale vocal dramatic work, Medusa, for three high-voice singers, which uses the Medusa myth to analyze self-identity after trauma*.

         These problems and topics are what fascinates me as an artist. How can I use narrative and art to pursue self-discovery, address existing toxic institutions within and outside of my life, encourage community building, and help audiences and myself imagine liberating practices for the future? While my main focus is in opera and audio-visual work, I continue to write works for ensembles and soloists without text, but even these are often driven to answer the same questions. Through taking risks, listening, and interacting with my communities in their many complexities, I can learn what works well, what doesn't, and how to move forward. This is my lifelong goal as artist - to continue learning how I can tap into art's potential for developing sustainable, loving, and significant change.