Letter to a Friend

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PROGRAM NOTES:

Letter to a friend for Soprano, Horn in F, and Piano (2022) is dedicated to Dr. Misook Yun; the set was jointly commissioned by Oregon  Music Teachers Association and Music Teachers National Association in 2022 and premiered on June 24, 2022 in Florence, Oregon at the OMTA Conference.

D. Allen and Megan Levad wrote these tender poems for this project. They both remind us to create, nurture, and be a safe space for our loved ones (family, chosen family, and friends).

– Andrea Reinkemeyer

TEXT:

In Winter

If I am the woodpile, be the field mouse.
If I am the mouse, be the field.

Or, if I am where the crocus grows
you be the gem, under the snow.

Close the door, shut out the wind.
Light your light as the night flows in.

Feed your fire,
(I am the woodpile)
warm your bones.
(I am the woodpile)

Feed your fire, warm your bones. 
Spring is almost come. You are loved.

– Megan Levad

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Letter to a friend on the return of spring

for my chosen family

Soon, love,
our world will be
all bloom again—

I will listen
across town for
the lilacs unfolding

the way I listen
to your breath
go deep and steady

after another long day
of singing yourself
into being—

after brutal winter
when you want only
to rest your voice

I will hold back branches
so you might see
the flowers’ new faces

and remember
how it feels
to open

– D. Allen

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