I wrote and recorded Freedom to support Made in a Free World, an organization dedicated to putting an end to modern slavery. As a father of two young girls, I was deeply moved by its mission to make the world a safer place for all our children. Every day I’m inspired by the boundless creativity I see in my own daughters. As a musician, I’m continually amazed by the power of music to connect and heal.

It pains me to recall that we still live in a world where many young people are not allowed the basic rights of education, play, and the liberty to make their own choices in life. In composing this work, I was inspired to imagine a future in which freedom is within every child’s reach.

The music is an expression of joy, and an attempt to capture a feeling of flow and weightlessness, but also empowerment. There is a kinetic quality in the music as it unfolds, with the faster rhythms in the violin giving way to larger, broader phrases, as if “zooming” out, revealing the ways in which we are all interdependent and connected to one another.

I was also particularly satisfied in having the opportunity to collaborate with my elder daughter, who created the recording’s cover art. In this spirit of intergenerational collaboration, I hoped that in some way the song would help to empower my daughters and other young people to embrace a new way of living that will enable us all to be free in mind, body, and soul.