irst, I would like to say what inspired the title of the piece. As we know, the theme for this composition is migration, or the ideas associated with people traveling, moving and relocating in local, regional, national and global contexts. Somehow, if I imagine these movements across time and space I visualize them as points of light moving in the dark. The image reminded me of fireflies, and the name "Vagalumes" means that in Portuguese. Vaga has the same root as vagrant and vagabond, meaning "wandering" and lume is an old word meaning light, or fire. So the wandering lights represent the people moving in waves, individually or in groups, from place to place.

Secondly, some recent news also caught my attention. A few weeks ago, in the Port of Seattle, some ships were found to be carrying clandestine stowaways from China, who, trying to come to the United States, traveled for 3 weeks crammed inside cargo containers. In one case, over 20 persons were sharing this space, and 3 of them had died during the crossing. My thought was about what kind of driving force propels people to undertake such a crossing, to start a new life in another continent. There are other examples of how far people go in their quest for a new home and new conditions of life. Sometimes it is voluntary, other times, such as the waves of African slaves brought to the Americas, it is forced. In my piece there is a section (rehearsal letter D, composed before I heard of the news) which, in my mind, represents a bit of the feeling of being in a mysterious watery environment. I had added for the percussion the sound of metal bells played in a bowl of water. When I first heard Musicians Accord playing this passage in a rehearsal, I immediately got reminded of the people inside a cargo container, shut out from light and air, hearing the clanging of the metal and the sounds of the wide ocean outside…

So I would like this piece to be a tribute to all the countless immigrants who are ultimately responsible for the rich variety of the culture of our planet.