In 2006 Kylie Kwong who is the ambassador for the Fair Trade Association of Australia and NZ asked me to write a piece for Fair Trade event, she asked for something earthy and poetic and she told me a lot about what Fair Trade stands for. This piece grew out of the many impressions of the stories of people growing coffee and sugar in harsh circumstances, transporting the produce on difficult roads. At the same time I wanted to give it a sense of optimism and hope. There are versions of it for Viola and Piano, Violin and Piano, as well as Piano solo. Version for string quartet composed 2007. (Elena Kats-Chernin)



Instrumentation:



string quartet