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Commissioned and premiered by the Chatham Chorale and their music director Joseph Marcio in recognition of the Tercentennial of Chatham, Massachusetts, North Beach Journal: A Chatham Rhapsody is a multi-movement work for chorus, strings, piano, and soprano soloist.   With texts drawn from essays by Robert Finch, a Cape Cod writer, the words capture the mystery and isolation of this very special part of the New England coast.    Mr. Finch is the recipient of the 2006 New England R. Murrow Award for Best Radio Writing.

1. North Beach Journal – begins with an energetic rhythmic figure in the lower strings which eventually support the soprano soloist who conjures up typical Cape Cod images of “fog, wind-stirred grass, bird songs being quieted by the persistence of challenging weather…”
2. Monomoy Island  – meditative and slow moving chords in the strings evoke the serenity of this magical island which is a critical national wildlife refuge for migratory birds, horseshoe crabs, gray seals and other wildlife. Finch says “it (the island) is rooted in reality as the Rockies, and its changes merely attest to the intensity of its existence.”
3. Rowing – Mysterious muted strings with a gliding ascending figure conjure the gentle ripples on the water as we head of a solitary small red boat with its occupants have the “curious feeling that they are rowing into the center of their own minds…where figures vanish.”
4. Simple Wonder – static and majestic, the opening string music gives way to the tender and reflective words of the chorus who sing “I want to cry out to those I pass, and who pass me the simple wonder of all of us being here together.”