2025
Elegy to an Immortal Groundhog
For String Quartet. Duration: 7'30"
At approximately 7:25am on February 2nd of every year since 1887, a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil is roused from his serene slumber to the strident sounds of three noisy knocks at his door and cheerful chants of his name and is promptly pried out of his warm hay home and held up to a cacophonous cold crowd. He then makes his prudent prognostication on the future’s forecast, which is almost always met with woeful wails from the malcontent masses gathered at Gobbler’s Knob, for Phil has predicted six more wintry weeks 105 times out of the past 125 years. This experience will be Phil’s fate forever, as he is immortal according to the Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, who administers an Elixir of Life to him every summer.
Phil is betrothed to his beloved Phyllis, who is forbidden from drinking that Elixir of Life, and together they had two cute kids in 2024. These are the first babies Phil has ever had, surprising the Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, who incorrectly thought that groundhogs did not breed in captivity and have since stated that his offspring will not inherit Phil’s ability to foresee and forecast. Thus, Punxsutawney Phil is condemned to eternal life, where he is forced to suffer through the same ceremony year after year, all while watching his family grow old around him before eventually passing away, leaving him all alone, doomed to repeat the cycle over and over until the end of time. This piece reflects upon his existence.
Premiered at the 2025 Nief-Norf Summer Festival by Andrew Tholl, Andrew McIntosh, KatyAnn Stenner, and Athos Maelstrom.
2024
Dances for Timpani
For Percussion Quartet. Duration: 5'00"
This piece features the unique abilities and sounds of timpani within the world of percussion. Focusing heavily on it's tuning capabilities controlled by a foot pedal and its resonant qualities, which are amplified when additional resonant metal percussion instruments are placed on the heads, Dances for Timpani explores the sonic possibilities of the full range of four standard sizes of timpani. Employing the forms of three styles of dances: the danzón, waltz, and soca, this piece references different ways in which timpani, or its distant cousin, the timbales, have been utilized in various musical styles.
This piece was commissioned by Matt Brusca and the Fayetteville High School Percussion Ensemble. Premiered on 4/28/2025.
Epimetheus' Box
Concerto for Solo Percussion, Wind Ensemble, and Electronics. Duration: 9'00"
Epimetheus’ Box is an interpretation of the story in Greco-Roman mythology known more widely as Pandora’s Box. Erasmus, a Dutch scholar and philosopher, compiled and published a collection of Greek and Latin adages at the turn of the 16th Century titled Adagia. In his version of the myth, Pandora and the box (mistranslation of jar from Hesiod’s Works and Days) come from Zeus/Jupiter as a trick punishment gift for Prometheus stealing fire from the heavens and giving it to humans. Prometheus (meaning forethought) saw through the trick and warned his brother Epimetheus (meaning afterthought) against the trick in case she goes to him. Epimetheus does not heed his brother’s warnings, and he is the one that opens the box according to Erasmus’ interpretation/translation. This contrasts with Hesiod’s version in Works and Days lines 59-108 (700 BCE) where Pandora’s curiosity leads her to open the jar left in the care of her husband Epimetheus.
This piece considers how an idea can shift and morph over time into something quite familiar and recognizable yet can change the meaning and implications of the idea greatly. Furthermore, this piece reflects on times when new and fresh ways of thinking do not outlive old and potentially outdated mindsets. This manifests in the music through the use of small and large-scale rhythmic accelerandos and ritardandos juxtaposed with moments of stasis, pitch class sets that are manipulated to feel like they are constantly moving towards something unknown, and a formal structure that presents significantly altered, yet very recognizable introductory material at the end, all of which combine to create an unsettling experience for the listener.
Premiered at Jann Serr Studio with the UW-Milwaukee Wind Ensemble on 12/11/24.
Piece for Resonant Space
For any number of voices and a resonant space. Duration: variable.
Recorded on 7/25/24 at highSCORE Festival near Romagnese, Italy. Performed by participants of the festival in an enclosed stone and glass gazebo.
Thank you to Yuval Medina for the recording!
look at my hands
For Solo Viola. Duration: 7'00"
This piece portrays a viola player whose left and right hands fall in and out of sync with each other and struggle to find their way back to unification. There are moments where both hands are performing actions harmoniously, moments where both hands are executing musical maneuvers independently, and moments where a hand is actively attempting to disrupt the other hand’s playing. As the title suggests, to experience the full performance, the audience should observe the violist’s hands closely.
Recorded on 7/22/24 at highSCORE Festival near Romagnese, Italy. Premiered by Paolo Fumagalli.
Asymmetries
For Tombak and Cello. Duration: 6'00"
The title, Asymmetries, refers to the asymmetric nature of playing both the tombak drum and the cello. Though both instruments are almost perfectly visually symmetrical on their own, once the performer begins manipulating the instrument to produce sounds, that symmetry becomes shattered. This piece explores the disjointed relationships of the right and left hands of the performers, as well as the contrasting musical worlds that the tombak and cello find themselves between: popular/folk music and contemporary/classical music.
Premiered by Shahab Paranj and Katarina Leskovar at the Du Vert À l'Infini Festival PluComp Summer Course on 7/6/24 in Lavoncourt, France.
If These Walls Could Talk
For Snare Drum, Voice, and 8-Channel Live Interactive Media. Duration: 7'00"
If These Walls Could Talk explores the vibrating body of the snare drum and traps the listener inside the drum, whose membrane is represented by the circular 8-speaker array around the audience, and investigates themes of feeling trapped, uneasy, and insecure, and having an unrelenting and burning desire to escape unwanted attention and uncomfortable situations. The interactive visual component reacts to the sound of the snare drum and starts to break away from its initial strict spherical shape, depicting the listener attempting to break free from circular cell walls, which symbolize external pressure and judgement.
Premiered at UW-Milwaukee Electroacoustic Sound Studios Concert on 5/9/24.