Hall of Ghosts, composed in April 2020, was composed as a ‘thank you’ gift dedicated to the wonderful community of flutists who participated in my Prayer Project- a virtual flute orchestra project that I produced during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

Hall of Ghosts was inspired by piccoloist Gudrun Hinze, who recorded her part for the Prayer Project in the Gewandhaus Chamber Music Hall. This hall would normally be full of musicians rehearsing and performing, but now, due to Covid-19, the hall lay empty and filled only with echoes and memories. The image of Gudrun’s solitary piccolo inspired in me a musical invocation, imploring the spirits to let the music return.

In the first section, the silence of rests and pauses creates an expressive background for the searching and plaintive phrases of the solo piccolo. The lively middle section is a contrapuntal dialogue between the ticking of time and an instrument striving to make itself heard. These materials trade off throughout the piece. You can decide through your interpretation on who wins. The music? Or the ghosts?