For Johnathan Kelly

Johnathan Kelly

Johnathan Kelly was my closest friend in the philosophy program at UC, Berkeley. While our lives would ultimately take different paths, Johnathan nevertheless continued on his way to realizing himself as a Jewish philosopher. I say Jewish philosopher for the sole reason that his interests in philosophy were intertwined with his interests in Jewish studies, giving him a deep sense of the moral demands that history places upon us. This made him a steadfast voice for justice. More to the point, he was just an exceptionally good person. The world desperately needs more like him. He died of cancer in 2022. I wrote this song in the 2 days after learning the news, and it existed for some time as a standalone piece for classical guitar. Then, while I was quarantining for the second time with the coronavirus during California’s historic atmospheric rivers, I began working on a version with electronics. Rather than try to block out the storms, I threw open the windows and let come what may.

Cue sheet for performative syncronization of live electronics