On April 17, 2026, harpist and Interlochen Arts Academy alumna Yolanda Kondonassis releases her new album "Terra Infirma" on Azica Records.
Each piece on the album is about humans' relationship to the environment – an ongoing theme in both Kondonassis’s and Esmail’s work.
Esmail’s new harp and percussion concerto "Terra Infirma" was directly informed by the composer’s experience living in Los Angeles during the catastrophic fires of January 2025. Esmail, who is Indian-American, also drew on her extensive studies of Hindustani music in composing the piece.
She writes in the liner notes, "I began writing this concerto in January 2025, a few days before wildfire ravaged my neighborhood of Altadena, CA. The piece draws on the ancient Hindustani raags of Deepak, which evokes fire, and Megh, which extinguishes it through rain.”
“Terra Infirma sits somewhere between a harp/percussion concerto and a monodrama – Yolanda leads us through the trajectory of a wildfire, starting with the eerie moments before the first spark, and ending with the hope of new growth," Esmail said in a press release. "The work explores our human relationship to fire – a force that can be at once devastating and illuminating."
Kondonassis and Esmail worked together closely to create the piece.
"It has been a dream to work so closely with Yolanda," Esmail said. "We have built the DNA of this piece together over so many years – experimenting in percussion studios, mapping stage plots, pushing our imaginations to the limit.”
The new album also includes Esmail’s works "Sandhiprakash" and "Earth Speaks: Curiosity."
The recording of "Sandhiprakash" on the "Terra Infirma" album features Kondonassis performing with violinist Vijay Gupta.
Esmail writes, “Sandhiprakash, meaning ‘the joining of light,' is the term for a particular set of Hindustani raags that are performed at the moments of sunrise and sunset. This piece focuses on the sunrise raags, Bhairav, Ahir Bhairav and Vibhas. Quite different from the sonorities that evoke dawn in Western music, these melodies are darker and more mysterious.”
The third piece on the album is "Earth Speaks: Curiosity," which features Kondonassis performing with the Interlochen Arts Academy Choir and conductor Carter Smith.
"Earth Speaks: Curiosity" uses as its texts the list of stops that the rover Curiosity made on Mars in 2011 as well as haikus which were submitted to an online competition to commemorate the launch.
Esmail writes in the album's liner notes, "Though these stops were only a few feet apart on Mars, many of them were named for places all over the Earth where the scientists involved in the mission conducted their early research - places that were deeply foundational to the people who made the mission possible."
In addition to the world premiere performances and recording of Esmail’s pieces, the project consists of a live multi-media concert video, the creation of a two-part documentary, and a year-long series of educational and residency activities at Interlochen. The entire process, from initial workshops to the world-premiere and recording, has been captured for a documentary to be released later in 2026.
"I began my life in music at Interlochen Arts Academy as a high school student over 40 years ago, and this project has brought me full circle," Kondonassis wrote in the liner notes.
Kondonassis said that a project about the wonders of planet Earth had to be created in collaboration with young artists.
"I cannot imagine bringing this music to life with anyone but young artists," she wrote. "They are still striving and discovering the newness of their voices, playing and singing from a place of pure joy and viewing the world through an open lens to every possibility."
"Terra Infirma" is available on digital platforms today (April 17) and on CD May 15.
