Water In Love (2020)
Water In Love was composed for the Borough of Manhattan Community College chorus, directed by Dr. Eugenia Yau. Throughout this work, the chorus recites Ed Bok Lee’s beautiful poem by rendering the words in a collective recitative — at times singing together in unison, and at other times branching off into shorter fragments. Lee’s poem describes a fantastic, idealized love from the point of view of water, connecting two elemental human needs into a meditation on the wild, liquid, and life-sustaining force of love. The chorus provides a wonderful, communal medium for Lee’s important message, and I am thankful for BMCC and Dr. Eugenia Yau to have made this work possible.
The world premiere of Water In Love was originally scheduled for May 5, 2020 at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Ed Bok Lee, “Water In Love” from Mitochondrial Nights. Copyright © 2019 by Ed Bok Lee. Used by permission of Coffee House Press, coffeehousepress.org. All rights reserved worldwide.