May This Day Be No One Following You

Story Behind the Piece

In May This Day Be No One Following You, I found myself writing in the shadow of the world around me. I began the piece before ICE invaded Minneapolis, leading to two deaths, and worked on it as the atmosphere in Minnesota felt heavy with fear and a sense that lives were being scrutinized and controlled. That timing deepened my empathy for people who move through the world without the everyday safety that white males take for granted.

The poem’s wish is simple and piercing: to walk into a store, down a street, and home again without suspicion or threat, able to “sing your song in the language your tongue was born to speak.” I wanted the music to hold both the urgency of that vigilance and the hope for a more evolved time. You will hear those worlds set against each other, not as a neat narrative, but as a lived contrast.

Musical Qualities

A key part of the sound world is physical and percussive. The piano’s attack, along with stomping and clapping, evokes vigilance, with the sensation of footsteps behind you. Against that, the voices open into a more spacious, more hopeful character.

One performance note: the piece does not simply “resolve.” Even after a calmer chorale-like moment, the percussive motion returns. For me, that is the point. Even when things improve, we still have to remain vigilant.

My hope is that the ending leaves a moment of reflective silence before applause, so the poem’s wish can linger as something we carry with us.