Dawn Upshaw

Golijov has enjoyed enormous success in the 2000s, but this 1996 choral composition Oceana helped build the buzz. The work was inspired by Bach's St. Mark Passion and uses texts of Pablo Neruda as it twists the cantata form with jazz and Latin styles realized by a clear but endless combination of solo and ensemble voices, orchestra, guitar and harp. Renowned Brazilian singer Luciana Souza's expressive tone contributes to the beauty of the work. The two-movement Tenebrae, a "prayer for peace" sung in Yiddish, Spanish and English, features the Kronos Quartet.