What was the genesis of this piece? "I landed on this idea when I had to renew my green card. So I went down to Immigration, where I'd never been before. I'm Canadian, which is really no big deal--it's basically the same culture, with some differences. I was shocked at how people were treated. When the security person heard me speak, he said, 'Oh, sir! It's this way.' He thought I was American because I could speak English perfectly. But he wouldn't let this pregnant woman sit down. "You know when you're somewhere, like a European capital, and you're trying to get somewhere but you don't speak the language? It's about hearing how beautiful language is. Through the whole immigration process you're kind of spurred not to speak your first language. A lot of the people I interviewed would speak their first language but then would put English words in. So it's kind of the breaking down of that barrier, trying to be American."

If a person didn't know that the piece had its roots in the immigrant experience, it would seem to be a very pure exploration of the sound of language. "I think that person would wonder what brings all these people together. I want them to think, 'What do they have in common?' It's not just this Tower of Babel thing going on--that's why there's a periodic INS person speaking. There's a human level. So instead of thinking that every Latino person you walk by on the street carrying a bag is a housecleaner, there's something more to it than that."