I became interested in Haitian music and culture in 2011, when I began working for Open Access to Music Education for Children, run by Youth and Family Enrichment Services. At this music center for Boston’s Haitian community, many of my cello students had left Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. They found that learning music helped them to adjust to their new lives and deal with trauma they had experienced. As the students learned to play traditional Haitian folk songs for community performances, I began to research Haitian art music.

With the help of Janet Anthony, former cello professor of Lawrence University and Haitian music education guru of BLUME Haiti, I joined some colleagues to teach at the École de Musique Dessaix-Baptiste in Jacmel, Haiti, during the summer of 2012. Learning more about the music of Haiti and daily life there made a strong impression on me.

My interest in Haiti continued during my doctoral studies at Rutgers University, where I devoted my research to the history of Haitian art music. To access scores for research and performance, I visited the Société de recherche et de diffusion de la musique haïtienne, an archive in Montreal dedicated to the study and promotion of Haitian music.

Haiti has had a rich and fascinating tradition of art music creation for hundreds of years. Due to issues of preservation, publishing, and other factors, many works by Haitian composers are difficult to access and have not yet been performed or recorded. We created this album of Haitian music because we believe these compositional gems are worth hearing, these composers merit recognition, and because we hope that this album will further accessibility to this unique and fascinating repertoire, enabling exploration and enjoyment of it by scholars, performers, and listeners alike.

The album’s title, Tanbou Kache, or “hidden drum,” references Mary Procopio’s description (in her PhD dissertation) of Jaegerhuber’s treatment of the cello in his chamber music works, in which she claims that the Vodou drum part accompanying traditional folk songs is hidden within Jaegerhuber’s cello parts through rhythmically driven material. Because Jaegerhuber inspired generations of Haitian composers, I was inspired to choose Tanbou Kache as the title for our album.

I am sincerely grateful to Shawn Chang for his invaluable collaborative partnership. I am also truly thankful for the extensive contributions of Ryan Streber, Jessica Slaven, Gina Samson, Julio Racine, Rudy Perrault, Claude Dauphin, Adele Golden, Gregory K. Williams, and the Société de recherche et de diffusion de la musique haïtienne. Many thanks also to Céline Boulben, Rebecca Wallen, Pierre Lidar, Subito Music Corporation, Carl Fischer, Jean-Claude Nazon, Françoise Forest, Stephen Sas, Linda Sinanian, Janet Anthony, Tom Clowes, and to the many other generous supporters of this album, without whom this recording would not be possible.