“Ascending Ashes” was composed during the covid pandemic and inspired by a newsclip from India. At that time, so many people were dying that family members could not even see the corpses of their relatives. A photo was shown of a man looking into the distance at a cremation site and saying “The only memory I have of my Mother is seeing her ascending ashes.”

The flute part encompasses a large range from the lowest tones with the timbre of an alto flute to the highest wispy realms. The beginning and ending can be played freely in an improvised manner. Indian raga scales are used extensively in this composition.