Elegy began as a prayer. The initial musical ideas came to me when I found out that my beloved piano teacher, Marina Grin, was terminally ill. But the full realization of the piece only emerged spontaneously after I learned of her passing. Elegy is dedicated to the memory of Marina Grin, who first showed me how to live a life in music. Originally for violin and piano, the orchestra version of Elegy was commissioned and premiered by the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2013.