Scenes from a Faery Forest (2023-2024)

A song cycle for toy piano and voice using poems by Felicia Hemans, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Lewis Carroll, Kate Greenaway, and Sara Teasdale. The song cycle was originally written as two separate songs (“The Cats Have Come to Tea” and “Jabberwocky”) that were performed by Ruby Abreu (mezzo-soprano) and Daniel Haakenson (countertenor). with Johnny Elliott on toy piano, on November 16th, 2023. More songs were written, as well as a spoken narration linking the songs together, and this version was premiered on April 18th, 2024 at the Longy School of music. The original musicians were involved in the premiere with the addition of Riuji Sato (countertenor), Anna Jean Simmons (soprano), Tim Antonelli (toy piano), and Libor Dudas (narrator). Images accompanying the songs were provided by Ruby Abreau.