I first heard Alan Felsenthal read his poem “This Friday Afternoon” during our residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in 2008. The poets had invited the composers to come hear some of their work one night, and before Alan finished I knew it was a poem that I had to set to music. It is a wonderfully evocative text that was great fun to work with. It also talks about Los Angeles in a way that avoids the overplayed cliché of a city without depth that is centered around the entertainment industry and nothing else. I have always felt that this persistent cliché misses the vibrancy and excitement and natural beauty of my home.

"...These dreams are
more intense in a violet wash.
Los Angeles: I have so much feeling
all I can express are objects,
ideas,
the small nature here,
the seldom trees, but all this light.
Los Angeles has so much light.
There is so much light here."

Text is used with the poet's permission.

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