Selected Portfolio
Hello! Below is a selection of my portfolio that I'd like to share with you.
Each SoundCloud player has selected excerpts from each piece, with a matching score linked below. Please also find a copy of the full score and a full performance accompanying each excerpt!
Begin with State of Alarm, then follow with (i am becoming) shades of myself, Brain Curry, and lastly, adrift.
All score cover art and the header art are original works based on my synesthetic impression of music. Header image takes inspiration from Son Lux's album, Tomorrows II .
State of Alarm
For Wind Band and Percussion
Excerpts: mm. 16 - 27 / mm. 135 - 145 / mm. 178 - 187
click here for the excerpted score (oversized, 11"x17" format)
click here for full score (oversized, 11"x17" format)
Full length world premiere performance with CSUF Wind Symphony, Dr. Dustin Barr, conductor
@ Meng Concert Hall, Fullerton, CA
State of Alarm was something like a personal journal where I vented much of my frustrations about the outside world of 2020. The ongoing barrage of stress from the political battles, worldwide crises, and pandemic-related job instability became far too unbearable, and this piece was created as a response to the fear and anger that seemed to color the air outside my apartment.
The music is in three sections outlining three major events of 2020:
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An angular dance between alarm bells, text notifications, police sirens and whistleblowers as the race for the US Presidency became a battle of social media.
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A much slower wave of sweet-sounding harmonies corrode into dissonance as the novelty of the lockdown period turned into stark reality.
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An unrelenting march presses forward through an obtrusive setting of the National Anthem adorned with artillery fire and revving engines.
The premiere resulted after a weeklong composer residence at Cal State University, Fullerton, where I earned my Bachelor's Degree in Percussion Performance in 2019. It feels a little more special as the stage where I shared my last performance was also the stage that welcomed me back, but this time in a new path as a composer.
Please note that the recording does not capture the antiphonal marching snare drums placed around the performance hall during the third excerpt, a setting of the final strain of the National Anthem. The marching battery addition added a sound similar to open gunfire coming from around the audience.
(i am becoming) shades of myself
for Mallet Quartet
commissioned by Southern California Marimba
Excerpt: mm. 54 [Reh. E] - 66
to be premiered by Southern California Marimba in Spring, 2020
(i am becoming) shades of myself is inspired by an observation of self-identity and how malleable one's identity is to their surroundings. After spending so much time away from public social pressure, I became much more honest in my self-expression and presentation. As we reenter the public, I've noticed that this identity is beginning to change back to a public persona, and now it feels like there is internal dissonance between losing myself and fitting in.
In writing this piece, I would experiment with layering different roll types and variations of orchestrations of chord extensions to see how subtle changes can effect the overall image of the sound. Through spacializing the ensemble, harmonies and colors shift through the physical and sonic spaces simultaneously; an illustration of the internal and external forces shedding and reforming layers of your core.
The piece is a part of a consortium for mallet percussion compositions hosted by Southern California Marimba, and will be premiered in Spring, 2020.
The score cover features an augmented image of the hallway to my bedroom and composition studio featuring rich colored lighting, a space I create where I feel most comfortable.
Brain Curry
for String Quartet
Excerpts:
mm. 41 - 59 / mm. 91 [Reh. H] - 98 / mm. 167 - 181 /
mm. 200 [Reh. P] - 213
Full-length digital premiere performance with JACK Quartet
@ Scholes Street Studios, Brooklyn, NY
Brain Curry was written in my first year of graduate studies at New York University. The title refers to a joke from the string composition course where this piece was written: I made a joke about my brain feeling like "coconut milk" after a particularly long week, and the professor's only response was, "mm.. brain curry."
The music is spirited, humorous, and full of spice. It bubbles, boils over, churns, and pops through a tasting course of three sections inspired by red, yellow, and green curry. The folky nature aims at a sense of "good ol' home cooking", where the soup is seasoned through the will of the spirits.
The score cover features an illustration inspired by the sense of joy and community that comes with sharing a homecooked meal.
adrift
for Piano Solo and optional electronics
Excerpts:
Excerpt 1: [Reh. A] - end of second bar of [A]
Excerpt 2: mm. 3 of [Reh. G] - [Reh. H]
Full-length digital premiere with Sean Yang, piano
Ictus Pictures, video and recording
@ Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall, Nashville, TN
In recent months, I have started experimenting with ways to augment acoustic sounds through electronic processing to find ways to push the depth of acoustic instruments. adrift is a self portrait at the piano, using augmentation to illustrate how sounds float around in my head before they are chased around in improvisation.
The score is free for open interpretation, in that the performer is free to choose their own phrasing and pacing as they see fit. The score may also be performed without electronics, but the effect is much greater with processing.
The performance is a result of remote collaboration with some friends at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, TN.
The score cover features an image of my childhood piano, a place where I spent many years finding myself.