LISA NEHER | MEZZO-SOPRANO | COMPOSER
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  • A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef for soprano, mezzo, & piano

A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef for soprano, mezzo, & piano

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PDF score for A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef for soprano, mezzo-soprano, & piano.
Music by Lisa Neher, poetry by Craig Santos Perez


Length: 6 minutes


Vocal Range: Soprano: C4-A-flat5, Mezzo: B-flat3 - G-flat5
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Program Note

poem

A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef is about the careful dance of sharing our love of the natural world with the next generation while holding back--just for a little bit longer--the most sobering truths of the climate crisis.

Craig Santos Perez’s tender and expansive poetry walks us alongside a family’s visit to the Waikīkī Aquarium and back home, snuggled up in a warm familial embrace.

Lyrical vocal lines with embellishing flourishes express the delicacy and beauty of the coral ecosystem, while shimmering motives in the piano depict sunlight on the water’s surface and the gentle movement of ocean life.

A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef was commissioned by Mirror Visions Ensemble and premiered on May 1, 2023 in New York City.
A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef
by Craig Santos Perez
from Habitat Threshold

We dip our hands into the outdoor reef exhibit
and touch sea cucumber and red urchin
as butterflyfish swim by. A docent explains:
once a year, after the full moon, when tides swell
to a certain height, and saltwater reaches the perfect
temperature, only then will the ocean cue coral
polyps to spawn, in synchrony, a galaxy of gametes,
which dances to the surface, fertilizes, opens,
forms larvae, roots to seafloor, and grows, generation
upon generation. At home, we read a children’s
book, The Great Barrier Reef, to our daughter
snuggling between us in bed. We don’t mention
corals bleaching, reared in labs, or frozen.
And isn’t our silence, too, a kind of shelter?
Copyright Lisa Neher 2025, All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • About
    • Biography
    • Eblast Newsletter
    • Testimonials
    • Discography >
      • Of Wind and Waves
    • Press Kit
  • Sheet Music Store
    • Shop All
    • Chamber Music
    • Choir
    • Coaching
    • Educational
    • Guitar
    • Harp
    • Large Ensemble
    • Opera
    • Percussion
    • Piano
    • Solo Voice(s) >
      • Art Song
      • Opera Arias
      • Unaccompanied Vocal
      • Chamber Vocal
      • Young Singers
      • Spoken Word/Narrator
    • Strings
    • Woodwinds >
      • Oboe
      • Saxophone
      • Flute
      • Clarinet
      • Bassoon
    • Brass
  • Calendar
    • Calendar
  • Singer
    • Listen and Watch
    • Repertoire
  • Composer
    • Report a Performance
    • List of All Compositions
    • Southern Resident Consortium
    • Commission Me!
  • Voice & Composition Lessons
  • Contact
  • Blog