Program Note

Revelation began during a time of deep isolation. In the heart of the pandemic, when choirs couldn’t sing together, my director gave us a challenge: create music in any way we could. As a composer, I naturally turned to writing—but I was anxious. Who wasn’t?

I found myself drawn to Revelation 21: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” That vision—a world made new—offered a message of hope that felt incredibly poignant. It spoke directly to the grief and uncertainty we were all carrying.

The first version of this piece didn’t land the way I hoped. I presented it to my class, and I could tell it didn’t resonate. But the seed was planted. A few years later, I returned to the music, stripping the text down to its core truths. What remained was not a setting of scripture, but a personal witnessing—a vision of sorrow transformed into love.