Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic is a set of fifteen miniatures, each commemorating a segment of the American population that has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic – doctors, parents, children, front-line workers, caretakers, and those who have lost their lives to the virus. The album also includes transcriptions by Danielpour for Simone Dinnerstein of J.S. Bach’s “Agnus Dei” from the Mass in B minor, as well as “Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden” and “Epilogue Chorus: Wir setzen, uns mit Tränen nieder,” from the St. Matthew Passion.

An American Mosaic was commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival and was premiered by pianist Simone Dinnerstein online on 6 December  2020 in a virtual concert for OBF from her home in Brooklyn. This album, produced and engineered by Grammy-winner Adam Abeshouse, is the recording of that performance.

An American Mosaic was born out of both Danielpour’s anxiety and insomnia early in the pandemic, and his desire to write a piano work intended to give comfort to those suffering. “The only thing that was able to relax me enough to sleep (no amount of medication would do the trick) was listening to Simone Dinnerstein’s Bach recordings,” he said. In May, he contacted Dinnerstein about the piece he intended to write. Danielpour, from Los Angeles, and Dinnerstein, from New York, embarked on this collaboration in summer and fall 2020, and discussed, prepared, and rehearsed the piece entirely via email, phone, and Zoom.