The Tin Angel Opera, written to a libretto by Paul Pines and based on his widely acclaimed novel of the same name, with music by award-winning composer Daniel Asia, is set in the edgy world of a NYC downtown Bowery jazz club, where a unique cast of characters play out their dramatic story as a call for redemption.

The inspiration behind the story is The Tin Palace, the real-life New York City jazz mecca of the 70s, founded by Paul Pines in 1973.

My friend and long-time collaborator, Paul Pines, died five years ago in 2018, on my birthday, June 27, in Glens Falls, NY. Paul wrote about synchronicity in his poems. Like the physicist Erwin Schrodinger, who famously posited the cat both alive and dead, Paul believed that many things happen for a reason, and not just by happenstance. And so I like to believe that Paul’s untimely death wasn’t just by chance. Might he have been signaling me?

These poems, which were left on his desk upon his passing, were sent to me by his wife. They remained on my desk for a long time before I could confront them, as the final documents my friend left for us. They confront dying, the ambiguity of Spring and death, and some unfinished business of our history, Vietnam. They are dedicated to Paul’s memory and his continued presence in my life.

The work is commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, with the generous support of: Larry Herron, Milt Francis, Richard Hereld, Neil Kleinman, Gary Kippur, James Wezelman.

The Divine Madness Oratorio, composed by Daniel Asia and based on the eponymous poetry book written by Paul Pines, is a testament to madness as a force which drives men to be creators. Such men lived on the razor's edge and pushed the boundaries of their minds, often self-destructing into the abyss of history. With an intense blend of classical, jazz, and avant-garde influences, Divine Madness is a demonstration of the chaos which gives birth to human innovation and creativity. Pines' poems are expressions of this madness, as found in the figures around whom they are woven. These include Tom Paine, Van Gogh, Einstein, Heisenberg, John Winthrop, Leonard Bernstein, Telemachus, Columbus, among many others.

The extraordinary project titled Mirrors of the Cosmos, a concerto to be composed by Daniel Asia for shakuhachi and orchestra, with Shawn Tairyu Head(a Grand master shakuhachi performer, and educator) as the featured soloist.

This project represents a rare and historic artistic collaboration between East and West. A concerto for shakuhachi and orchestra is an uncommon yet powerful combination, and we believe Mirrors of the Cosmos has the potential to be a groundbreaking addition to the orchestral repertoire.