Flare and Answer is a brief but driving work inspired by the trance traditions of Moroccan Gnawa music and the powerful voices of Khadija El W arzazia and B’net Houariyat. Drawing on the blues scale filtered through the modal colors of maqam Rast, the piece weaves quick-paced motifs into a dialogue of call and response, echoing the communal exchange at the heart of its inspiration.

By bringing maqam Rast’s distinctive heptatonic scale degrees into conversation with the expressive contours of the pentatonic blues scale, the piece highlights resonances between North African and African American traditions—forging something both new and familiar, for listeners of any background.

Score front material written in collaboration with Dr . Kim Nguyen Tran.

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