Sisila ila ila means “saying goodbye” in the language of the Taiwanese SaySiyat Indigenous people. Scored for solo percussion and electronics, this piece evoking a sense of longing for parts of the world we have lost or may indeed be losing. The two main musical materials used here are the singing of whales and the singing of an Indigenous man of Taiwan. Both songs were recorded for posterity through the efforts of world-wide collective preservation; the Indigenous songs were recorded in 1966, and in that same year the US Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act, with humpback whales among the first animals slated for protection. These events give us hope, and at the same time, deliver a stark warning of what we as a world are on the verge of losing.

sisila ila ila: A Recalling to Mind begins in a state of unintentional oblivion, in which the busy percussion music represents a moment of contemporary life, everyone going about their own business, absorbed in the moment. Emerging from this urban drone, we begin to make out a human voice - the Taiwanese Saysiyat vocalist singing the words, “sisila ila ila,” goodbye. The percussion picks up that voice and breathes new life into it, learning its meaning and creating variations, suggesting a dialogue. Toward the end, a second voice is also heard - a humpback whale - perhaps also saying farewell and also echoed by the percussion. The piece ends with the tripart conversation of percussion (playing and singing), whale song and Indigenous singing, resulting in a rich sound world.

This work aims to construct a poetic musical narrative that mines the state of nostalgia for things past while encouraging us to listen more purposefully to all the voices that surround us - while we are still here.