Across the globe, in cultures of extraordinary difference, we witness the commonality that underlies our diversity. Despite sharing little in common in terms of possessions, customs, language, myth or history, we are still united -- as human beings sharing the same evolutionary process, looking at the same skies, inhabiting the same globe, and returning the same smile. Many times when I travel, I cannot find the words to describe my encounters with Masai tribal elders, Afghan women or Tibetan monks. But I always have my pictures.

My musical composition, the "Witness Cantata," is structured around the tradition of “seven last words,” actually seven passages gleaned from gospel accounts of Jesus on the cross. To interpret those brief scriptures with contemporary texts, I added my words to those of poets Anna Akhmatova, Theodore Roethke, and William Blake, as well as Elie Weisel.