The Gift of the Crane
June - Dec. 2025 (for four voices (SATB), piano, violoncello, and electronics)
Commissioned by Luna Composition Lab and River & Rail Theatre, premiered on March 22nd, 2026.
I translated and adapted the story of “Tsuru no ongaeshi” (つるの恩返し) into a 15-minute theatre work. [Read below for a brief summary.] While engaging with this classic “don’t look” trope, I wanted to offer a more hopeful perspective. Society is already familiar with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice—and, Hadestown is a masterpiece—so how could I offer a personal twist? I chose to reimagine the ending so that Tsuru’s departure is not a loss, but an invitation for Wakamono to finally look up and truly be alive—something he had not been able to do his entire life.
The folktale: A lonely man rescues a crane trapped in the snowy mountains. Soon after, a mysterious woman appears at his door, becomes his wife, and weaves extraordinary fabric that brings them sudden wealth—on the condition that he never watch her work. When he breaks this promise and discovers she is the crane he once saved, she must leave him forever, having repaid his kindness at great personal cost.
Painting by Satoko Kitagawa