A Blue Star (2013) was written as an engagement gift for Beth Willer and Jonah Kappraff.

The piece is a setting of a poem by Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003), longtime professor of Indo-Muslim Culture at Harvard University and widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert on Sufism. In addition to her distinguished scholarly career and writings, Schimmel also produced a small body of original poetry, much of which was inspired by Sufi writing and thought.

A Blue Star
            Annemarie Schimmel

You were a blue star.
Then, you were a red bird
on a snow-covered tree.
Melting, the bird was a pearl,
unfolding into a rose.

Again, you were wine,
and after a while
a lonely flute.

Every moment you change your form.
But under every guise
my heart recognizes your heart.

(Copyright © 1994 Annemarie Schimmel; Used with permission of her estate.)