As a composer of art song, I am particularly inspired by the architecture of a poem, the sounds, and meaning of a word, its rhythmic power. I have set poems by several women poets, including Margaret Atwood, Betty Andrews, Silvia Curbelo, and Kathleen Raine. I am attracted to the voice of the female poet: her strength and sensitivity, but also her vulnerability. But I have set texts by male figures as well, even using quotes that sum up their masculine identities.

The process of setting words to music often begins as an experiment in gesture. This usually starts as a “cell” or “germ” that has the potential for heightening and intensifying the meaning and power of the words. Although a poem may arouse an initial emotion, it is only when I have finished the composition that I know whether or not I have captured the true essence of that poem. If the listener reacts positively and is engaged, I know I have created something special, something that is perhaps universal.

Poetry by Douglas Atwill (2019)
Bass & Piano

1. Morning at the Temple

2. Camera Ready

3. Fairy Circle

4. Beloved Girl

5. The Visitor

Poetry by Douglas Atwill (2018)
Tenor (or Soprano) & Piano

1. Steamship Ballroom

2. Grapefruit and English Muffin

3. Volare

4. A Night at the Opera

Poetry by Janet Joyner (2016)
Soprano & Piano

1. Cassandra

2. Botany for the Gods

3. Rain Song (Homage to Paul Verlaine)

4. Decoherence as My Way Out of the Quantum Mechanics of Underpants

5. In a Goolagong Bog

6. Lift Off

Poetry by Louise Labé, translation by Willis Barnstone (2013)
Contralto & Piano (6’21”)

1. Sonnet XIV Although I Cry (3’54”)

2. Sonnet XV To Honor the Return of Sparkling Sun (2’27”)

Poetry by E.E. Cummings (2009)
Soprano & Piano

1. Thy fingers make early flowers of all things (2’05”)

2. This is the garden; colors come and go, (5’30”)

3. (sitting in a tree–) (1’40”)

4. Thou to whom the musical white spring (2’17”)

Three arrangements of songs from the Western Frontier
Tenor or High Baritone & Piano (8’15”)

1. The Cowboy’s Dream (3’30”)

2. The Pecos Stream (2’35”)

3. The Big Corral (2’10)

Poetry by Kathleen Raine (2009)
Mezzo-soprano & Piano (12′)

1. Lament

2. Nocturn

3. Purify

4. The Healing Spring

English translations by Stephen Tapscott (2006)
Soprano or Mezzo-soprano & Piano (12′)

1. I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz (Morning)

2. Don’t go far off, not even for a day (Afternoon)

3. They’re liars, those who say I lost the moon (Evening)

4. When I die, I want your hands on my eyes (Night)

— commissioned by Arlene Shrut

English translations by Stephen Tapscott (2008)
Soprano or Mezzo-Soprano & Piano (14′)

1. If your eyes were not the color of the moon (Morning)

2. Your hand flew from my eyes into the day(Afternoon)

3. Maybe—though I do not bleed—I am wounded (Evening)

4. And now you’re mine. Rest with your dream into my dream (Night)

Poetry by Pierre de Ronsard (2007)
Baritone or Mezzo-Soprano & Piano (11′)

1. Quand je te vois, seule…

2. Bonjour, mon coeur

3. À sa guitare

4. Je suis homme, né pour mourir

— dedicated to Carol Kimball

Poetry by Margaret Atwood (2006)
Soprano or Mezzo-Soprano &Piano (17′)

1. Night Poem

2. Siren Song

3. Variations on the Word Sleep

4. Flying Inside Your Own Body

Poetry by Betty Andrews (1994)
Soprano or Mezzo-Soprano & Piano (12′)

1. When I Was Young

2. The Time Comes

3. New Grass

4. Awake On A Spring Night

5. The Shape of Laughter

Poetry by Silvia Curbelo (2003)
Mezzo-Soprano & Piano

1. The Blackbirds Take Over the Sky (Mezzo-Soprano 3’56”)

2. The Body is a Stone House (Mezzo-Soprano 4’40”)

3. The Death of the Tango (Mezzo-Soprano 4’03”)

4. The Lake has Swallowed the Whole Sky (Mezzo-Soprano 4’37)

5. Drinking Song (Mezzo-Soprano 3’54”)

6. For All the Goodbyes (Mezzo-Soprano 4’37”)

7. Dreaming Horse (Mezzo-Soprano 2’15”)

8. The Room was a Pond (Mezzo-Soprano 4’04”)

Poetry by Silvia Curbelo (2003)
Soprano & Piano

1. I’m in Love, I’m Floating (Soprano 3’25”)

2. Last Call (Soprano 5’10”)

3. Janis Joplin (Soprano 3’24”)

Poetry by Silvia Curbelo (2003)
Tenor or Baritone & Piano

1. Some Nights You Crank up the Car Radio and Just Drive (Tenor  5’08”)

2. Spontaneous Human Combustion (Tenor  4’26”)

3. The Simple Geography of Leaving (Tenor 2/25”)

Poetry by Thomas Carew; Dante Gabriel Rossetti; anon. (2012)
Bass-baritone & Piano (12′)

1. Celia Singing (5’30”)

2. Song and Music (4’15”)

3. A Short History of Medicine (2’00”)

Portuguese poems by Ricardo, del Melo Neto & de Morales
Tenor or Soprano & Piano (8′)

1. Canto Da Juriti

2. Poema

3. Soneto De Separaçao

Spanish poetry by Federico Alarcón (2004)
Tenor or Soprano & Piano (5′)

1. Me diste una canasta de manzanas

2. Desde que conoci en el camino

Bass & Piano

1. Hear the Sledges with the Bells (1’40”)

2. Evening Star (2’30”)

3. Romance (3’22”)

4. Alone (3’20”)

5. Dream Within a Dream (3’59”)

Soprano & Piano

1. Alleluia

2. You are tired, I think (e.e. cummings)

3. Perplexed Music (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

4. Someone Should Start Laughing (Hafiz)

5. Didn’t You Hear My Lord When He Called? (trad.)