Alone Together

This song was created through conversations with students who shared the impact of isolation and adversity and the realization that we need each other to make it through our challenges. The song begins with a somber tone acknowledging the pain of loneliness and builds to a more hopeful theme driven by the piano accompaniment as we recognize that "together we make it through." The bridge celebrates activities that bring joy and assist with processing trauma and healing and the ending includes a contemplative contrapuntal section before coming together in the end. Commissioned for the Valley Region Choral Project 2020-2021 made up of Federal Way, Puyallup, and Sumner Bonney Lake School Districts of the Washington Music Educators Association, students in the Teen Sings program shared stories about their pandemic experience and helped contribute lyrical ideas which shaped this piece. The premiere was a virtual choir recording with almost 200 submissions.