Chicago Songs musically recreates the spirit and people found in Carl Sandburg’s iconic poetry. Sandburg’s world is one filled with the grit of burgeoning industrialization, the earnest hope of immigrant settlers, and the heartache and beauty found in the everyday. His characters are larger than life, yet tragically human - there’s a poignancy in their foibles that I find very attractive. As a composer I’ve always been drawn to nostalgic, highly personal subject matter and these texts compliment my own nostalgic, highly personal musical impulses.

The work was originally commissioned as an orchestral song set by conductor Michael Morgan and the Sacramento Philharmonic with soprano Marnie Breckenridge. Premiere performance October 2008 in Sacramento, CA.