ka-weɪ-mee-nɑː is a work for flute and cello duo, written in the spring of 2023 as part of a collaboration with the KOE Duo.

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Inspired by the constructed languages of childhood and playground games, ka-weɪ-mee-nɑː channels a number of themes in its compositional structure, including:

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• My experiences as a second-generation immigrant to the UK

• My experiences of hearing old songs from my elder relatives in a language I could not understand

• Reading about how some twins create languages in childhood that only they can understand

• The last time I played "pretend" with primary school friends in Year 6

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In a sense, I like to see the structure of ka-weɪ-mee-nɑː as a celebration of childhood imagination, a shared game between two people — a conversation between friends — playing with this constructed language they are invited to inhabit and make their own. I like to think of things a bit like a playground game — moving through different imagined worlds, imagined emotions, jumping from one “pretend” to another — worlds and words that might not make sense to “us”, but definitely make sense to “you”...