PROGRAM NOTES

"Waloyo Yamoni" is a setting of a Lango rainmaking prayer, commissioned by the St. Matthews Music Guild, based out of the St. Matthews parish in the Pacific Palisades, CA. I was initially approached with the commission with the specific brief to write something that fused together classical and non-Western traditions, in a similar style to my popular piece "Baba Yetu".

The piece was originally composed for vocal ensemble, accompanied by string orchestra and two percussion. After finishing the commission, I decided to compose other pieces of music around the theme of water, which eventually became my song cycle 'The Drop That Contained the Sea'. In fact, one of the opening motifs from "Waloyo Yamoni" became the water theme for the entire song cycle, reoccurring in every movement throughout the larger work.

Since 2022, a live performance of the piece from my 2016 Cadogan Hall concert has repeatedly gone viral on social media. That concert featured me conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Angel City Chorale, Prima Vocal Ensemble, and LUCIS combined choirs, featuring Jimmer Bolden and Allie McNay singing the solos.

 

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