<p> <i>Heave, Sway, Surge</i>(2014&ndash;19) is a musical composition for nine instruments that attempts to evoke the subjectivity of a body in motion by deploying sound-mass textures that rely on transitional acoustic states. It uses motion and force as its musical material and a system of notation in which acoustic parameters are represented vertically against horizontal time, with line segments plotting their continuous values; and shows discrete positions and configurations as tablature. The production of the score relied on a suite of software tools that formalizes musical materials, compositional processes and score structures in an object-oriented fashion, and typesets a score in PDF format for digital distribution and printing. This essay provides historical context for my aspirations with this work, discusses the modeling of instrumental performance parameters, details he notation system designed for the score, describes the architecture and development process of the software, and illustrates the decisions involved in the composition of the work.</p><p>

Ma Yuan’s ink wash painting series Water Album features seemingly degraded art. Faded ink, yellowed paper, and the residue of time are defining characteristics of her work. However instead of viewing this as damage, I see this loss of information as an integral part of the work. This idea is also the theme of my Water Album works. From the purely physical phenomena to the cultural level, I explore the disappearance of sounds from multiple different prospective and present them in a non-linear way. In 2018-20, I composed four Water Albums, which are ensemble pieces of different instrumentation. Even though they are inspired by Ma Yuan's Twelve Water Albums, they do not point to any specific images. They are more about looking for a tangible connection between the water as a cultural symbol and personal emotions. The theme of the Water Album #4 Realms of Interim is "rippling". On the macroscopic level, there are three layers of time in the piece. These layers correspond to the unknown universe, our time, and the time of the witness (or narrator, who will travel between the time spaces and tell the story). On the microscopic level, the music will expose the fact that all these three layers are indeed interconnected; an event that happens in one layer will affect the others and creating a rippling effect.

Westbrae is a work written for string quartet composed in 2020. The work is approximately eleven minutes long and focuses on the idea of losing one’s perception of time. Throughout the piece, musical gestures quickly crossfade in and out of one another, creating the sense that all materials are coming and going with ease. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, this piece serves as a reflection of what it is like to be in lockdown and to have days blend together.

Yearn is a work of notated music for string quartet. The piece examines the emotions of longing and loss through the repetition of motivic and timbral fragments, which are continually frustrated and never fully resolved. Elements of American and British folk music traditions are also drawn upon as inspiration for much of the bowing patterns and harmonic content present in the piece. The piece is approximately twelve minutes in duration.

This work explores the myth of the Midas touch, attempting to recreate Midas’ thaumaturgical condition through sound. The sonic experience is delineated by distinct phases that mimic the process of Midas’ touch, following a subject’s existence from pure life to still, tarnished gold.

abstract: It is not a tremendous exaggeration to suggest the world almost ended on September 26, 1983. At the command center for the Soviet Union's Oko nuclear early warning system a report came in stating that six hostile missiles were launched from the United States. The commanding officer at the center, Stanislav Petrov, was convinced that the missiles were a false alarm, and indeed the Oko system had malfunctioned. Petrov was justified in reporting the attack to his superiors, which would have likely resulted in retaliatory strikes from the Soviet Union, leading to nuclear war. This relatively obscure, but immensely important moment in history is the inspiration for Alarm. This work is not a direct retelling of Petrov's story, but a musical journey imagining the many emotions this man must have been feeling. The piece is also not a look at the Cold War politics surrounding the event, but a study of a choice, one of massive consequences. The most significant element in Alarm is tension. The goal of the opening statement of the piece, played by the brass, is to immediately transport the listener into this world on the edge. This motive is developed throughout the work, and serves as a binding agent as the music evolves. Another crucial element is the oscillating staccato notes usually played by high-pitched instruments. This is implying stress one might feel- whether it be an alarm going off or time running out. As the piece seems to reach its breaking point just past the halfway mark, Petrov makes his choice. The final part of the work is decidedly more peaceful, emphasized by the "Tranquillo" and "Calmo" descriptors, but there is a consistent dark undertone to Alarm. Petrov's story is bittersweet- he is a hero, but his accomplishments were swept under the rug by Soviet leadership, humiliated by their nuclear system's failure. The near disaster in 1983 has barely been addressed by the world at large, even as the threat of nuclear war seems to fade. When the next nuclear crisis arises, what choices will be made? / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2020

The first movement of scenes was written for the Sound Icon ensemble, thus the reason for the somewhat unusual instrumentation. They read the piece at Boston University on February 25, 2022. The title scenes comes from the idea that the motive found at the start of the piece is recontextualized throughout the work at different tempos, with varying dynamics, and with changing combinations of instruments. This can be related to the scenes in a play or movie where the actors remain the same but they are seen in various locations, with other characters, and with different lines. The second movement acts as an extension of this idea, taking another motive and recontextualizing it throughout.

This piece was composed in 2022 for Mivos Quartet. Through the combination and conflict of different timbres, it expresses the sense of tearing and unknown confusion caused by the collision between the rational world and mysticism. By citing the theme of Tchaikovsky's Violin Sonata in D major, the most representative rhythm pattern in Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", the music fragment of popular music culture after the second industrial revolution, the intention is To create an illusion similar to time travel. Just as the world is in the process of disenchantment, the rapidly changing process makes us feel as if we have fallen into the abyss. Do we still need the power of faith? Or a spiritual sustenance or memory? In ancient society, people are "embedded" in the world, is connected with the world. In modern society, people are separated from that big "matrix" and live alone and without support in this world. The natural world was objectified, no longer divine and spiritual, but a physical world that could be explained by cold laws of cause and effect. So what are the consequences of this for the human spirit?

What’s Left Over is based on passages from Bessel van der Kolk's "The Body Keeps the Score," which discusses the long-term effects that early-life traumatic incidents can have on both body and brain. Decay periods and sympathetic resonances are explored on both minute and structural levels reflecting remnants and fragments that may linger for years after an incident has occurred.

Moondust is a piece for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet in B flat (doubling Bass clarinet), Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass. Moondust means lunar soil. In this piece, however, it symbolizes the illusion or fantasy of what we admire and yearn more than the existence in reality.