Euphoric Dawn is a set of variations on a cinematic theme I composed in late 2020, representing the playful nature of the sun at daybreak. The piece illustrates the calming emergence from the shadows of grief, pain, and solitude into a bright and exciting future—a metaphor for freedom from the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. The dark string chords in the beginning, accompanied by atmospheric percussion, create the dim moment before dawn, only to be broken by a joyous statement in the much brighter D ionian mode.

Writing Euphoric Dawn helped me maintain a sense of light amidst the overwhelmingly dark times during the pandemic lockdowns. The piece is our escape into a brighter tomorrow, and gives us hope that despite the darkness, we will be triumphant once again.