in 2010(
bottom right) The music of du Bois appears to consistently attract commissions of commemorative connotation; in honor of the 35th anniversary of the
University Chorus at the University of Massachusetts – Boston in 2000, du Bois was commissioned to write
Our Eyes for double
a cappella choir; in honor of
Kronos Quartet's 30th anniversary in 2003, du Bois was commissioned to write her first string quartet. Chosen from among the work of more than 300 composers from 32 countries as the inaugural recipient of the Kronos: Under 30 Project, du Bois wrote String Quartet:
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind for Kronos Quartet which she cites as a protest to the U.S . led invasion of Iraq.
Bargemusic commissioned
Soleil sur Mer as part of their 30th anniversary celebration in 2007; during the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the city of
Hanoi in 2010, du Bois'
Within Earth, Wood Grows for chamber orchestra was premiered at the Hanoi Opera House by
Southwest Chamber Music on March 19, 2010. Du Bois was Composer-in-Residence with Southwest Chamber Music in connection with their Ascending Dragon Music Festival. In July 2011, Du Bois was commissioned by cellist Wendy Sutter (of
Songs and Poems by
Philip Glass) for a multi-movement cello work," The work was held at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when many theaters were closing down and going dark. Subsequently, this was the last live performance, at Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, until the end of the pandemic lockdown and a long hiatus from live performances.
Night Songs Du Bois' third string quartet,
Night Songs (Nachtliederen), also commissioned by Kronos Quartet, was composed from inspiration received from the letters and diaries of Holocaust victim
Etty Hillesum. As explained by NewMusicBox.com, "The music born of this was starkly touching, conveying the complexity of individual human darkness rather than the epic turmoil of nations in a time of genocide." Du Bois stated of the nature and title of the same composition: “Night can represent the darkness of that time, of humanity, but it also represents the unconscious. Etty Hillesum was always uplifting—she was almost always singing a song. She had an incredible sense of inner light.” In 2004, du Bois received a grant from
The Netherland-America Foundation and traveled throughout the Netherlands and Poland to retrace Hillesum's footsteps in preparation for writing the quartet. Kronos Quartet presented the New York premiere of du Bois' third string quartet alongside the world premiere of
Henryk Gorecki's third string quartet (
"...songs are sung") at Carnegie Hall on March 24, 2005. ==Compositions==