Program Notes:

All Things Beautiful is a setting of the eloquently reflective poem, “Barter” by Sara Teasdale. The text offers that “life has loveliness to sell,” and it recounts many wonders that can be observed. It urges one to “spend all you have for loveliness” without considering the price – to live fully by experiencing and witnessing all life has to offer. In writing this piece, I reflected on the world we might live in if we all adopted this grateful
view of existence – our connections with one another, our value of the natural world around us, our appreciation of the arts, and our experience of the divine.

This piece was commissioned by The University of Cincinnati Women’s Chorus (directed by Molly Getsinger) with the support of the College-Conservatory of Music’s Harmony Fund. It was premiered in February of 2020 at an art and music exhibition intended to exemplify the power of the arts to promote inclusion, dialogue, and equality.