Rise is a work born of profound personal loss. The piece does not follow a traditional concerto form, but rather a single, continuous emotional arc that moves from chaotic grief to a search for transcendence. Following its January 2023 premiere, critics noted the work’s "searing emotional honesty," praising how it balances the "acrobatic virtuosity" of the cello with a deeply felt, communal sense of mourning.

The concertino opens with a sonic explosion—a burst of apparent disorder where string "bugs" repeat fragments of material in a frantic, buzzing texture. Out of this chaos, the cello enters gently with a plaintive, ascending melody that begins to "rise" with increasing intensity. At the heart of the work lies a chorale-like chord progression inspired by the "Magic Sleep" music from Wagner’s Die Walküre. This "heavenly" sequence symbolizes a gaze heavenward in a desperate search for answers.

A shift in tone occurs as the oboe introduces a new melody—simple, honest, and vulnerable. This leads to a restless dialogue where the cello and orchestra engage in a question-and-answer session that grows increasingly desperate. This tension culminates in a wild cello cadenza that spins out of control, eventually consumed by an "orchestral scream" that momentarily blurs out the soloist. As these shouts die down, the opening melody returns in the cello’s lowest, most vulnerable register, woven together with previous themes. The work concludes on a cryptic, haunting note, as sonic swirls and echoes of the Wagnerian progression fade into silence.