Between the Blossoms

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commissioned by Aliara Duo

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Between the Blossoms is inspired by Huajian Ji花间集, a 10th-century anthology of poems written by men but voiced through imagined women. These feminine figures appear refined yet confined, expressive yet spoken for.

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The piece does not set the poems; instead, it imagines how these women might sound if they could speak today. Scored for flute and harp - instruments long associated with softness and the feminine - the music examines how inherited expectations can be reshaped and reclaimed.

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Across four movements — In Her Chamber, Silk, Ink, and Unwritten - the work traces a shift from enclosure to self-definition.

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