CLEARFIELD Andrea

Andrea Clearfield (b. 1960) is an award-winning American composer of music for opera, orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, dance, and multimedia collaborations.

Reflections on the Dranyen, commissioned for “The Diaspora Project”, is one of a series of her works inspired by musicological fieldwork that she conducted in the northern Himalayan region of Nepal to help preserve Tibetan and Himalayan musical heritage. One particular melody she documented was Dranyen Tsering Wangmo, a tro-glu (festive song) praising the dranyen, a three-stringed plucked instrument central to Tibetan music. Clearfield uses this simple melody as a starting point for an evocative reflection of her travels to the Himalayas, reworking fragments of the song into her own lyrical and colorful style. Beginning with an introduction replete with note bends, open trills and glissandi, it moves into a fast rhythmic section featuring the signature Tibetan “dum-da, dum-da” rhythmic pattern. Building to a vigorous strummed climax, the opening material returns, ending with the heartbeat of a cultural heritage that survives, and thrives, in the face of political struggle and social transformation.

The composer wishes to thank MacDowell for providing a Fellowship with time and space to create this work.

Learn more about Andrea’s music at www.andreaclearfield.com/