Commissioned by the Belgian Lilith Ensemble, We Are Here is inspired by a photograph I saw in the news of the brave women of Afghanistan protesting their right to work & education, holding a placard aloft which stated WE ARE HERE. As women we fight on a daily basis for our right to be heard and treated equally to our male counterparts. For some this is a much harder struggle than for others. In this piece you hear the women begin stunned, tentative and in shock before beginning to gather strength, fight and repeatedly regroup to fight anew. To paraphrase Maya Angelou when asked in a TV interview what advice she would give to a 10 or 12 year old daughter, we may be defeated but we must never be defeated, this piece aims to reflect this sentiment. Speech rhythms within the piece echo the words We are Here and We will continue to fight and there is a moment in the strings intended to sound like a spinning top as a call to our younger generation to continue the fight. Premiered in Antwerp, May 2024, WE ARE HERE was subsequently selected for dance choreography by Ana Sofia Villar, Director of the Ballet Moderno y Folklórico National de Guatemala and performed at the Teatro Nacional Guatemala in July 2025.