Repertoire Recommendations

Click for recommendations in the following genres:

ORCHESTRA | ORCHESTRA+CHOIR | CHOIR | | VOCAL (Western classical) | VOCAL (Hindustani classical) | VIOLIN | EDUCATIONAL

ORCHESTRA

If you are looking for a short orchestral work: 

• Testament (movement 3 from Vishwas) — 5’ (2014) is a short, lively work for orchestra (available in 4220 or 2210 brass versions), that also has an optional tabla part. It is third movement of a longer work for sinfonietta, (see below), orchestrated for full orchestra. Vishwas is slightly easier than RE|Member — it is suitable for younger college ensembles, but a straightforward play for professionals. The tabla part will require a dedicated player, trained in Hindustani percussion (a member of the orchestra will not be able to handle the part unless they have specific tabla training). If you are considering performing this work with a tabla player and need a recommendation, please contact us.
  Instrumentation: [2222.4220, timp +1, strings] OR [2222.2210, timp +1, strings] +optional tabla
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• RE|Member — 7’ (2021) is an wild, colorful overture for orchestra (3333.4231), with a minute-long prelude and postlude on either side for oboe solo/duet (so, 7’ total). The work has some tricky passagework, especially for the winds, but is suitable for professional and high-level college ensembles. (Note: this work is currently under exclusivity, and will be available in 2023.)
  Instrumentation: [3333.4231, timp +2, strings]
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• Ram Tori Maya — 4’ (2022) – this short work is a great introduction to my music, especially for younger ensembles. It is an arrangement of a bhajan (Hindu devotional song), and is suitable for a high school orchestra. Additionally, it comes with the option of adding a short prelude before the piece, to which students can either sing or play recorder.
  Instrumentation: [2222.4220, timp +1, strings]

For longer orchestral works (without soloist):

• Teen Murti — 11’ (2013) is the string orchestra version of the last three movements of my String Quartet. It is the single most-performed large ensemble work in my catalog. The work is suitable for professionals and high-level student ensembles. There is quite a bit of divisi, but there has been success playing the work one-on-a-part with about a dozen musicians. An ideal size ensemble would be 6.5.4.3.2 or above.
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• Black Iris — 14’ (2017) is a longer work for orchestra that reflects on the complexity of a woman’s experience in classical music. A feature of this work is a passage where all musicians with treble voices are asked to hum a drone note, which creates an unusual, haunting texture. It has some tricky passagework, but is suitable for professional and high-level college ensembles.
  Instrumentation [2222.4221 timp +3, harp, piano/celesta, strings]
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• Avartan — 9’ (2016) – This is a mid-size work for sinfonietta, suitable for college to professional ensembles. It explores subtly changing colors and textures, starting with classically Indian textures, and moving slowly into a more Western palette.
  Instrumentation [1111.1111, piano (lightly prepared), 1 perc, strings] 
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• Vishwas (all 3 mmts) — 12’ (2014) – This is a mid-size work for sinfonietta, and is suitable for college up to professional level musicians. It is based on a bhajan of Mirabai – an Indian saint-poet whose ideas were dangerously ahead of their time.
  Instrumentation [1111.1110, sop/alto sax, ten sax, piano, 1 perc, strings] (strings can be one on a part fine if mic’d, string section if not mic’d)

There are a variety of orchestral works with soloists. Works with Western-classically trained soloists include:

• The History of Red — 20’ (2020) — this is a work similar in scope to Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, with poetry by Linda Hogan. It is about our complex human lineage and how we grapple with it in the present. The work is suitable for professional and college groups, and can be handled by an excellent college-level soprano as well.
  Instrumentation [solo soprano, 1111.2100 1 perc, harp, strings]
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• Clarinet Concerto — 17’ , 2 mmt (2017) — There are two versions of this work. The original version of the work was written for a soloist who is able to improvise in a Hindustani style (the piece can work for a player with a jazz or other improvisational background as well). But there is another version meant for Western-classically-trained clarinetists that is completely notated. Orchestra parts suitable for professional and college ensembles.
  Instrumentation [solo clarinet, 3332.4211 timp +2 perc, harp, strings]
  .
• Concerto for You — 12’, 3mmts (2019) — this is a work for solo violin and string orchestra. While the solo violin part should be played by a professional violinist, the orchestra parts are designed specifically for intermediate level students. The piece breaks down the traditional separation between soloist and orchestra, and provides an avenue for inter-level collaboration (the soloist is also asked to collaborate).
  Instrumentation: [solo violin and string orchestra]

• Rosa De Sal — 10′ (2023) — this work for trumpet and orchestra is an expanded version of my song Rosa De Sal (for soprano and piano). It is a lyrical aria for solo trumpet with dark and evocative orchestral textures. Orchestra parts suitable for professional, college and advanced high school ensembles.
  Instrumentation [solo C trumpet, 2222.2211 timp +2 perc, harp, strings]
  **Please note: THIS WORK IS STILL UNDER EXCLUSIVITY. It will be available for programming in the 2024-2025 season.

• I Do Not Know What I Know — 7′ (2022) — The solo aria from Say Your Name, with original text by Rebecca Gayle Howell, this work stands alone, and can be a short addition to set for soprano and orchestra, or a single piece. It is a dark work about the experience of being gaslit — and explores suspense, terror and rage. It ends: “Have you ever been too scared to breathe? I have…”

UPCOMING CONCERTI: If you’d like to plan ahead or be part of a consortium, I have new concerti for harp/percussion, violin/piano, flute, piano and even a concerto for orchestra coming up, as well as a version of Zeher for cello and string orchestra. Some of these works are still available for consortium participation, and others can be programmed with their soloists in the coming seasons. If you are interested in programming any of these works in the future, please contact us.

Works with Hindustani-trained soloists include:

• Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz — 21’, 3mmts (2018) This is a work for soprano, Hindustani singer and orchestra about sisterhood across cultures. Suitable for professional and college ensembles. The Hindustani singer does not need to have Western training, but it is quite tricky for a Hindustani singer who has not performed with an orchestra before. If you are programming this piece, please feel free to contact us for Hindustani singer suggestions.
  Instrumentation — two versions are available: 3333.4221 and 2222.4220 winds. Both also include timp +2perc, piano, harp and strings.
  .
• Testament (movement 3 from Vishwas) — 5’ (2014) is a short, lively work for orchestra (available in 4220 or 2210 brass versions), that also has an optional tabla part. It is third movement of a longer work for sinfonietta, orchestrated for full orchestra. It is suitable for younger college ensembles, but a straightforward play for professionals. The tabla part will require a dedicated player, trained in Hindustani percussion (a member of the orchestra will not be able to handle the part unless they have specific tabla training). If you are considering performing this work with a tabla player and need a recommendation, please contact us.
  Instrumentation: [2222.4220, timp +1, strings] OR [2222.2210, timp +1, strings] +optional tabla
  .
• Clarinet Concerto — 17’ , 2 mmt (2017) — There are two versions of this work. The original version of the work was written for a soloist who is able to improvise in a Hindustani style (the piece can work for a player with a jazz or other improvisational background as well). But there is another version meant for Western-classically-trained clarinetists that is completely notated. Orchestra parts suitable for professional and college ensembles.
  Instrumentation [solo clarinet, 3332.4211 timp +2 perc, harp, strings]
  .
• Violin Concerto (for Hindustani violin and orchestra) — 25’, 5mmts+postlude (2022) — This is a work I co-wrote with Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath, using the five elements (Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth) as a canvas to explore the effects of climate change. The piece requires a violin soloist who is trained in the Hindustani style (to date, only Kala herself has performed this concerto). The orchestra parts can be rhythmically quite tricky, and is suitable for a professional orchestra.
  Instrumentation [solo Hindustani violin, 3333.4331 timp +3perc, harp strings]
  .
• Aria — 12’ (2009) — an early work for Hindustani singer and orchestra. Some aleatoric elements. Suitable for professional and college ensembles. As with Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz, the Hindustani singer does not need Western training, but experience performing with an orchestra is a huge advantage.
  Instrumentation [2222.4220, timp +2perc, harp, strings] Available exclusively from CF Peters.

ORCHESTRA w/CHOIR

If you are looking for works with orchestra and choir together:

Here are some of my large, multi-movement works:

• This Love Between Us — 40’ 7 mmts (2016) This oratorio takes texts from seven major religious traditions practiced in India, and looks specifically at the places that each text tells us to be kind to one another. The texts are set in both English and the vernacular/original languages. Extensive audio guides are available to aid with pronunciation.
  Instrumentation [SATB chorus (SSAA chorus option available also), 2201.0300 timp, strings + sitar and tabla] (same as Bach’s Magnificat, but with added sitar and tabla)
  • this piece may be performed on historical or modern instruments. All parts are the same except for oboe parts (both period/modern oboe parts are provided)
  • there is also an option of adding dancers — (original choreography by Yamini Kalluri. Kritya Ensemble is available to tour). Please inquire about this option if you are interested.

• Say Your Name — 30’ 4 mmts (2022) This cantata is about democracy, through the lens of women’s suffrage. With a beautiful new libretto by Rebecca Gayle Howell, this work reminds us that “To vote is to pray, not to the One we cannot see, but for the Many we can.”
  Instrumentation [SATB Chorus, soprano soloist, 2222.2221 timp +2perc, piano, strings]

• She Will Transform You — 14’ (2019) This is a single movement work about the immigrant experience, with text by Neelanjana Bannerjee. It is suitable for college or professional ensembles.
  Instrumentation [SATB choir, 2222.4231 timp +2perc, harp, harp, celesta, strings]
  .
• I Rise: Women in Song — 25’ (2016) This is a five movement work for treble choir, flute, harp and strings. The movements can be performed individually (the last movement, a setting of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” is the one most often performed by itself.)
  • There are many versions of I Rise. If you order this piece, please let us know
    • 1) whether you are doing the piece with 4 individual singers or a treble ensemble of 8 or more 
    • 2) the size/makeup of your instrumental ensemble:
      • a) single strings, flute and harp (7 players total) 
      • b) string ensemble (at least 22221) flute and harp, or 
      • c) with just piano (this should be done only when strings/fl/hp are impossible) 
    • 3) if you would like the three-movement version (mmts 1,3,4 only) for treble choir with flute obbligato (no other instruments)
    • 4) if you would like the SATB version of only mmt5 (Still I Rise, 4’ text by Maya Angelou)
      .
• Take What You Need — 5-25’ (2016) for string orchestra and chorus. This is my most flexible/adaptable work, also with many versions. It is a series of call-and-response choruses and textless interludes (where someone can speak, improvise et al). While the interludes are all the same, the choruses vary in difficulty. The full version has four choruses and three interludes, but many ensembles choose to perform this piece with a deep cut, so they are only performing two choruses with a single interlude (about 10 minutes). The piece is designed to be easily customizable to fit the needs of your performers and community. All versions are available for free download, and are licensed under Creative Commons.

CHOIR

My choral works are extensive — there are currently 27 individual works, each with different versions, so there are more than 50 different possibilities available.

Instead of trying to describe them all here, I’ve created this spreadsheet, organized by ensemble type, to help you see the various options possible for your group. You can see the length, difficulty level, performing forces required, languages and raags used, author of the text, and much more information on this sheet.

Recommendations for other genres are forthcoming!