Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season January-February 2016 | Page 11

the people of the city and their relationships—and, of course, their conflicts.
Once the uprisings happened last spring,
it changed my thinking about the piece.
I saw it as an opportunity for healing in
some places during the work.
How did those events change
the piece?
It became more broad in terms of the
range of emotion. I realized the importance
of creating a feeling of reconciliation, a
healing aspect. There’s a lot of pain and
a lot of anger in the city that I can only
watch from afar. I can’t feel it the way
those involved feel it. I wanted that emotion to be part of the piece, and also the
healing in the wake of that emotion. As I
realized the importance of those elements,
the composition deepened.
Dark places are not unfamiliar to you:
You’ve talked about how some tragedies
have inspired your works. The tsunami
in Japan, 9/11, even your Pulitzer Prizewinning opera was set in wartime. Is
there some kind of redemption innate in
your work? Finding moments of light in
the darkness?
I think I’m drawn to events like this that
happen to people. We’re kind of thrust into
the human condition—we don’t have a lot
of choice. Horrible things can happen, and
you’re forced to live through them. One of
the most inspiring aspects of humanity is
the ability to push through these moments
and come out on the other side. When I
see that happening, I’m inspired, and it
usually generates music. It’s not that I’m
obsessed with tragedy, it’s jus ][