Chamber Works
“Validation” for Saxophone Quartet (2023)
Validation depicts the younger version of me. Fresh out of high school, getting prepared to enter college and my early life as a composer. I wanted to rush into things before its time. I wanted to move out of my parent's house, be involved in every organization and event once I got to college and make music for as many ensembles that I possibly could, all to prove how good of a person or a composer I was. At a certain point, I realized that trying to do everything at once lead to nothing being done at all. This piece focuses on the excitement of thinking that I could do anything and everything all at once. That’s what the A section of the piece is all about. The B section changes tone and is more dissonant and less grounded. This represents reality sinking in. In this section I’m starting to see that things aren’t really going the way I thought they would. Then we have a recapitulation of the A section, representing me continuing to be naïve and stubborn. Slowly but surely coming to the acceptance of taking my time and letting things happen naturally.
“Strike” for String Quartet (2023)
“Strike” represents me taking a step away from myself and what I was going through and changing my attention to what was going on around me and around the world. My younger self was so focused on validation that I wasn’t “validating” other things going on outside of my own life. I wasn’t a person who watched the news much when I was younger or even as a freshman/sophomore in college, so I wasn’t really thinking about life outside of my own problems. Once it came to worldwide news like the pandemic or election season, I was informed but other than that I didn’t really bother to know what was happening. Then I realized how ignorant that was and how I should be informed since I am well on my way into the real work. I titled the piece “Strike” because this change of mindset hit me like a wakeup call. I realized quickly how self-centered my thinking was and in what ways I could change that. How could I go about making or doing something bigger than just what affects me.
“Gasoline” for Percussion Trio (2023)
“Gasoline” is a strong, “in your face” type of piece. In the beginning the percussionists mimic a match being lit and flames forming soon after. Once the flame gets bigger that’s when the aggression of the piece comes in. This piece represents the aggression I had towards many things in my life around sophomore year. I was especially aggravated by school, and it got to the point where I was considering dropping out entirely. I was overwhelmed having to take ten different classes in a week, get straight A’s, balance relationships, work on my physical and mental health, practice my instrument, compose for assignments and yet only finishing one full piece that whole school year. I wanted to leave all my obligations behind, and this piece displays that tension and anger behind my thoughts and actions during that time.
“BoneBlind” for Trombone Quartet (2023)
“Boneblind” is about me almost being set free of the shackles of what people thought about me and my music yet still having the care of what people thought cloud over me at times. I had moments of both, yet overall, I was moving in the right direction. I knew what tendencies I had to work out it was just a matter of losing that blindness completely. Opening my eyes to what I really want to say with my music and letting that speak for itself.