Three Sparrow Songs 

for Mezzo-soprano, Clarinet in A, Cello, and Piano, 2018 - 18”

for Joseph Jenkins

Clarinetist Joe Jenkins and I both did our masters degrees at Georgia State University, and during our time there we grovelled about the New Music community and how he wanted to play something “pretty.” I took his challenge when asked that I write something for him and his Brahms Clarinet Trio ensemble, but asking that I add a singer. Luckily enough, his wife, Emily Jenkins, is an incredible Mezzo-soprano. The form of this piece is in six repeating sections, three iterations of a solo instrumental interlude followed by a song setting. The text is taken from multiple sources: “The Lake” by David Schubert, “If I Had Known” by Alice Moore Dunbar, and a traditional American folk song of the same name “Come All Ye Faire and Tender Ladies.”