When I was first approached to write this piece, I was asked if I could create something that related to the Latinx community in Baltimore. Being decidedly not Latinx, I sat down with my collaborator, Sonia Matheus, to brainstorm ways that I, as a white man, could authentically engage with this topic. What we uncovered was an experience we both shared; we are second generation Americans. She is part Venezuelan; I am part German. Being a second generation American brings with it certain challenges. You identify with a country you’ve never been to or have only visited a few times. You either don’t speak or barely speak your grandparents’ language and many of the cultural traditions that would have been common place for your parents have become watered down and diluted for you. "Ni de aquì, ni de allà" is my attempt to grapple with this complicated feeling of belonging to a culture but having very little experience with it through the use of a lullaby from the border of Venezuela and Colombia called "Duerme Negrito."
Premiered by Sonia Matheus (2019)