"Chiftetelli" for clarinet, two violins, viola and cello features melodic clarinet lines influenced by the Middle Eastern zummara’s (the clarinet’s ancient ancestor) ornamented style of playing. The pizzicato cello parts were inspired by the dombek, a traditional Middle eastern drum. The dombek produces two basic sounds: a low resonant thump and a higher, brighter sound when the edge of the drum head is sharply rapped with the fingers. Together the lyrical clarinet lines and colorful string writing creates what Ted Shen of the Chicago Tribune described as, "...an adroitly constructed compendium of tantalizing rhythmic variations."