When I learned that the great Israeli poet Dorit Weisman would be in residence at the same time as a Director’s Guest, I decided to scrap a piece-in-progress and begin again at Civitella, setting her powerful words. The weeks that I spent here were intensely fruitful and like nothing I experience in my daily, “normal” life; to be able to spend one’s entire waking day immersed in music (with occasional bike trips for gelato) was a balm for my soul.