« Palomita » was commissioned by pianist Marguerite Witvoet for her solo program at the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Lima, Peru in 2008. I borrowed some elements from Peruvian folk music as inspiration and to provide a starting point for the piece. The melody of the Andean folk song « Mi Palomita » becomes a tone row that is temporally stretched and no longer recognizable, and a groove is created using a Peruvian festejo dance rhythm. The imagery of the dove, or palomita in Spanish, is a symbol of peace and redemption.