In Paradisum

"In Paradisumawas premiered by the UBC University Singers on their 2008 United Kingdom tour. A highly personal work, it was written during my first year inaVancouver and was inspired by my first encounters with the beautiful Pacific coast. Having grown up in a harsher coastal climate on the edge of the Atlanticaocean, I was struck by the calmness and serenity of Vancouver's seaside. I was inspired to write a poem in honour of my grandfather, an amateur sailor andaphotographer, who at the time was beginning to succumb to his chronic lung disease in St. John's. Writing the poem and setting it to music helped me to reconcileathe distance between my homes on two coasts, and allowed me to musically express my awe at natural beauty, my grappling with transitions, life and loss, andathe profound sense of hope the ocean, regardless of coast, represented to me."