The Holy Liftoff (Terry Riley)
A collaboration with Terry Riley on his open-ended work The Holy Liftoff, commissioned from Riley by Claire Chase for her Density 2036 project.
Riley’s score consists of two parts: a folio of drawings with musical fragments, and 25 minutes of through-composed music for flute choir. Embedded in the drawings are fragments of music — musical ingredients whose interpretation and instrumentation are left completely open.
I began with Terry’s score materials, and by composing, interpreting, and combining crafted a 60-minute realization for flute, string quartet, and pre-recorded sounds, including flutes (up to 18 at once), stones and wind, and Riley’s speaking voice. It’s only the first what could be endless possible versions of the piece.
This realization was premiered by Chase and the JACK Quartet in Brooklyn in May 2024. I also edited Riley's through-composed material, which can be performed on its own in a version for live solo flute and pre-recorded flute choir.
A recording was released by Sono Luminus in July 2026, and is available on streaming or on CD.
Concert video of the 45-minute version at the 2025 Ojai Music Festival