National Orchestral Institute Commission, written as a Composition Fellow.
Moon Joy is a celebration of creativity, ingenuity, curiosity, camaraderie, and love by the NASA team on Earth and in space that participated in Artemis II— humanity’s return to lunar space after more than a fifty-year absence. The title comes from the familiar saying between the Integrity spacecraft crew and the CAPCOM (capsule communicator) on the ground. When expressing excitement at a new discovery, the CAPCOM would cheerfully respond, “copy Moon joy.” This simple phrase encapsulates an optimism desperately needed on Earth.
The composition is an intensely personal reflection on my own experience observing the Artemis II mission. While watching the NASA livestream, I experienced a deep emotional connection with people the farthest away from Earth that anyone has ever traveled. In their own remarks, the Integrity crew shared their profound realizations about the sanctity of life on Earth from their cosmic perspective.
The material of the piece is also deeply personal—stemming from the many musical worlds I have traveled. I composed parts of this piece at the piano, in a digital audio workstation, with pencil and paper, singing, with a harmonium, and with a trumpet (not all at the same time). From the harmonic language of jazz, the rhythmic and timbral vocabulary of Afghanistan, and the lyricism of the Western canon and beyond, the piece expresses dozens of shades of joy—including that special kind of joy brought back to our Earth for us to all share.
National Orchestral Institute New Directions Ensemble, Clarice Center for the Performing Arts, College Park MD, 6/26/26