Iza Ngomso

Performance History: Commissioned by Waterford Union High School, and first performed January 5, 2014 at Waterford Union High School, Waterford, WI by the WUHS Choirs, conducted by Derek Machan. Subsequent performances at Carnegie Hall, NY by the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Chorus, and Cadogan Hall, London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Program Notes: "Iza Ngomso" is the fourth movement of The Drop That Contained the Sea, and like the rest of the movements, is based on water in one of its unique naturally occuring states. In the case of "Iza Ngomso", a piece about clouds, the text is derived from an unusual translation of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem "Kerabos": translated into Xhosa, one of the national languages of South Africa (and one of the African dialects that features prominent 'click' sounds).

FROM CHRISTOPHER: "I wrote Iza Ngomso on an airplane, en route from Dubai to Johannesburg. I was inspired by the sight of the airplane's shadow skipping across the cloud layer."