Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is one of my absolute favorite chamber works ever written. It’s beautiful, challenging, full of unexpected twists, turns, and textures, and viscerally sublime. I had the opportunity to perform this amazing piece in spring of 2021 — a dark time for many of us as the pandemic dragged on and vaccinations weren’t yet available for everyone. Thinking of Messiaen composing this piece in a prison camp during World War II gave us inspiration for this performance as a story of transcending–both in the earthly ream and the spiritual.