BIRDSONGS, a five-song cycle for baritone or mezzo-soprano, cello & piano is published by NORTHSTAR MUSIC

Assembled faculty for Birdsongs recording. From left to right: Emerson Eads, Abbie Eads, David Dillard, Yuko Kato, Chris Butler, Dick Kelley, Chris Walczak

MUSIC AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE HERE

Program note:

Birdsongs was written for my wife, Abbie Eads, a cellist and conductor whose artistry, spirit,

and love of birds have shaped my life immeasurably. The texts are drawn from the collected

drawings and poems of children imprisoned in the Terezín Concentration Camp between 1942 and 1944. Amid unimaginable suffering, these works reveal an enduring capacity for beauty, imagination, and hope in even the smallest moments of human experience. The book, ...I never saw another butterfly... was the source of these collected texts.

I am deeply grateful to Goldfarb & Associates for granting permission to set these words,

translated by Jeanne Nemcová and edited by Hana Volavková.

This music, like all of my work, is offered with the understanding that interpretation remains

a living and collaborative act. While I have composed these songs with certain expressive

impulses in mind, I welcome performers to discover their own emotional truths within them.

Different voices, experiences, and moments in time may reveal different meanings, and I hope performers will approach this music with both freedom and imagination.

Finally, I offer my heartfelt gratitude to Yuko Kato, David Dillard, and especially to Abbie,

whose artistry and belief in this work have given these songs both voice and life.

May, 2026