Ellis Island/Angel Island - The Chrysalis Foundation

Ellis Island/Angel Island: A Vision of the American Immigrants is a work in progress scored for ten original acoustic instruments and a small ensemble of dancers. All musicians and dancers will be present on stage throughout the performances. The interplay and synchronicity between musicians and dancers is crucial because Ellis Island/Angel Island is a narrative dance composition that tells the story of immigration from the perspective of those who came to America, and of those left behind.

This composition will be performed on an ensemble of original acoustic instruments that I built/rebuilt during the years 1976–1989, 1995, 2013–2015, and 2019. The instruments belong to four categories. Stringed instruments: Chrysalis I, Chrysalis II, Harmonic/Melodic Canon, Bass Canon, and Just Keys; percussion instruments: Diamond Marimba I, Diamond Marimba II, and Bass Marimba; friction instrument: Glassdance; and wind instruments: Simple Flutes. (Critical parts of many of these instruments were redesigned and rebuilt during the years 2001–2024.)

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1948, and immigrated to Berlin, Germany, in 1954; I then immigrated to New York City in 1958. Having endured two intercontinental immigrations by the age of ten, Ellis Island/Angel Island is a work based on my personal experiences, and on my research of historical texts, letters, and journals.

For the Just Keys piano scores below, please note the nonlinear key signatures, or nonstandard key signatures, which indicate that these scores are tablature scores. As such, trained musicians cannot read these scores, or hear the harmonies and melodies in their inner ears, without knowledge of how I retuned this instrument. Similarly, all other scores are also tablature scores. However, because I used familiar Western music notation, skilled musicians should have minimal difficulties learning how to interpret the scores.

Musical Scores