Aside from a handful of cantorial pieces, and despite his fondness for setting vocal texts, Daniel Asia didn t begin to explore his deep interest in Judaism and his Jewish identity in music until 1988, with his Celebration for baritone, chorus, brass, and organ. This work subsequently provided material for Asia s Symphony No. 2, an evocation of Jewish prayer, penitence, and praise. After producing another two, purely abstract symphonies in the early 1990s, Asia turned his attention to other genres for the next 15 years. Then, in 2008, came his Symphony No. 5, Of Songs & Psalms not only a return to the symphony, but also a return to exploring facets of Jewish identity via the symphonic medium. Asia s Fifth, while hardly as histrionic as Bernstein s, is similarly a work of questioning and unease, at least in part. It also gives Asia another opportunity to set poems by the American Paul Pines, whose work has been coupled to Asia s music many times since the 1980s. The symphony was premiered in 2008 by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, George Hanson conducting, with soloists Kelly Anderson and Robert Swensen.