Featured Compositions
WORK
Solo Instrumental
Op. 10 - Two Pieces for Viola
2 - Rhapsody on 3 and 4th (2019)
Op. 16 - Piano Suite No. 1, “Arcadia” (2020)
- Commissioned by Aaron Petit
Chamber
Op. 2 - Aftermath, for euphonium and piano (2018)
Op 6 - String Quartet No. 1, "Cobalt" (2019)
Op. 12 - Viridian Horizons, for sax quartet (2020)
Op. 25 - Conscious Streams, for pierrot ensemble (2022)
- Written for the 2022 Brevard Summer Music Festival
Piano Concerto No. 1, The Severed Thread, Op. ? (WIP)
Date Composed: April 2022 - ? | Duration: 10 minutes, projected 25-30 minutes
Instrumentation: Piano and Orchestra
Movements:
I - Echo
II - Revelation
III - Respite (WIP)
IV - Silence (WIP)
V - Terminus (WIP)
Program Notes:
The first movement of my in-progress, five movement piano concerto. This work was written and performed as my master's thesis in fulfillment of an M.M. in Composition from Manhattan School of Music.
"The Severed Thread" is a programmatic work that follows the narrative of the titular poem (written by me) and portrays the dark and twisted journey of an unnamed individual, represented by the solo piano, as they march inexorably to their own destruction. The poem and piece are loosely modeled on Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, with each stanza/movement corresponding to a different stage.
Partial Premiere: February 24th, 2023
Elliot Roman, piano
Michael Adelson, conductor
MSM Philharmonia
Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music.
New York, New York
Conscious Streams, Op. 25
Date Composed: June - July 2022 | Duration: 6 min.
Instrumentation: Pierrot Ensemble
Movements:
I - Prelude (To a Question?)
II - Pavane (For a Dying Star)
III - Galliard (With a Shot of Espresso)
Program Notes:
Conscious Streams experiments with unexpected and abrupt changes to mess with a listener's expectations in a (hopefully) humorous manner. Here is my program note for the piece:
You know that thing that authors do where they just write out their thoughts in an endless stream without really thinking about what comes next and often they form very long run-on sentences or have sudden changes that don’t really make sense like BAM there’s a cat in my office and he’s chasing a grasshopper.
I may or may not have just been playing Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante defúnte before I started this piece and I just really love that work and wanted to write my own pavane but then I got to thinking “well, I tend to write a lot of serious music and this is no different so what if I also tried to make the audience laugh” and then things got very Webern-y and when things get very Webern-y in a piece that is already pretty Ravel-y you know you’re in for an emotional rollercoaster so buckle up folks and get ready for a ride. Lettuce.
Premiere: August 5th, 2022
Alex Tedrow, conductor
Alexandra McGuire, flute
Aaron Lipsky, clarinet
Noel Medford, violin
Elliot Wells, cello
Ting-Ting Yang, piano
Parker Concert Hall, 2022 Brevard Summer Music Festival
Brevard, NC
Edenic Valediction, Op. 24
Date Composed: May - June 2022 | Duration: 5 min.
Instrumentation: Solo Piano
Program Notes:
This etude-like piano piece focuses on structural shifts between fast parallel motion with changing intervals and slower, contrapuntal sections that resemble loose fugues. As I was writing the piece, I noticed that its motivic character resembled that of my Piano Suite No. 1, "Arcadia." With that comparison in mind, Edenic Valediction became a quasi-reflection on the ideas behind my suite, both musical and programmatic.
Premiere: July 28th, 2022
Jonathan Bass, piano
Parker Concert Hall, 2022 Brevard Summer Music Festival
Brevard, NC
Deep Impact, Op. 23
Date Composed: March - April 2023 | Duration: approximately 5 min.
Instrumentation: Electric Guitar and 2 or 4 channel playback
Program Notes:
Deep impact was a NASA space probe launched in 2005 with the goal of studying the comet Tempel 1. The probe initiated a flyby in July of that year and deliberately launched an impactor which collided with the comet’s nucleus. It then began studying the composition of the space object while sending photographs back to Earth. This piece loosely follows the journey of the probe from launch to space travel to landing on the comet’s surface.
Deep Impact uses pre-recorded guitar sounds in conjunction with live improvisation on various scales and pitch class sets. It is dedicated to my friend and fellow guitarist, Luis McDougal premiered it on April 4th, 2022, at Mikowsky Hall, Manhattan School of Music, in New York, NY.
Premiere: April 4th, 2022
Luis McDougal, electric guitar
Mikowsky Hall, Manhattan School of Music
New York, NY
adagiELEGY On [[COMPLEX]] iN B-flat minor, Op. 20
Date Composed: November - December 2021 | Duration: 6 min.
Instrumentation: 2 or 4 channel audio playback
Program Notes:
What happens when you stuff a bunch of (heavily processed) background noise from a New York apartment into the same speakers as (heavily processed) classical music broadcast through a guitar pickup/amplifier? You might be surprised at the results! Or it could be exactly what you'd expect.
As alluded to above, this work takes various sounds from my former apartment (predominantly air sounds from window units and fans) and combines them with selections from classical pieces in the key of B-flat minor. However, all of these sounds are heavily processed, with the classical works being broadcast through the pickups of an electric guitar and amp!
Premiere: October 21st, 2022
Ades Performance Space, Manhattan School of Music
New York, New York
Piano Suite No. 1, "Arcadia," Op. 16
Date Composed: December 2019 - October 2020 | Duration: 25 minutes
Instrumentation: Solo Piano
Commissioner: Aaron Petit
Movements:
I - Toccata (A Dream)
II - Canon (Arcadia)
III - Gigue (Hubris)
IV - Intermezzo (Wordless Lament)
V - Fugue (Machine)
VI - Corrente (Ruination)
VII - Sarabande (A Dirge)
VIII - Epilogue (Forgotten Dream/True Arcadia)
Program Notes:
Written for Aaron Petit over the course of a chaotic year between 2019 and 2020, this piano suite was a massive undertaking that compiled all of the stylistic traits I developed during my undergraduate years into a singular, all-encompassing musical statement. A programmatic work, the suite confronts the literal and figurative repercussions of humans attempting to create the titular concept of “Arcadia,” or heaven/Eden, here on Earth.
The suite was written alongside a poem of the same name; this poem explains the narrative drama of the suite and the two frequently correspond in terms of content. Each movement is associated with one of the poem’s stanzas, and the secondary movement titles are drawn from the beginning of each stanza. Additionally, many musical elements share associations with passages and words within the poem. However, while the poem sheds light on my personal musical intentions, it is not a necessary read. Listeners are welcome to forgo the poem and draw their own conclusions regarding the suite’s meaning.
Piano Suite No. 1, “Arcadia,” is dedicated to the life and memory of my godmother, Sandra Simons, who passed away shortly before its completion.
Premiere: March 27th, 2021
Aaron Petit, piano
Wesley Thompson, Senior Recital
Gusman Hall, University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Viridian Horizons, Op. 12
Date Composed: February 2020 - March 2020 | Duration: 5 min. and 10 sec.
Instrumentation: SATB Sax Quartet
Commissioner: Invicta Sax Quartet
Program Notes:
While I do not possess synesthesia to the extremes of such composers as Messiaen or Ligeti, I definitely associate chords and keys with specific colors. In regards to keys specifically (or scales/ modes), the more sharps or flats present, the greener the sound’s color tends to be. Additionally, an abundance of sharps creates bright music, while flat-heavy music tends to be more muted and dark. Viridian Horizons attempts to explore this relationship by combining the chartreuse and pistachio colors associated with the pitch centers of C# and B (four sharps and two sharps respectively) with the azure blue of the pitch center C (three flats). In the process, the titular viridian color is created. Additional inspiration for the work was taken from the soundtrack to the Winter 2020 anime Somali and the Forest Spirit, in which the horizon features as a background thematic element.
Premiere: March 27th, 2021
Wesley Thompson, Senior Recital
Gusman Hall, University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
The Albatross and the Seal, Op. 11
Date Composed: July 2019 - January 2020 | Duration: 14 min.
Instrumentation: Jazz Sextet and Chamber Orchestra
Movements:
I - Passacaglia (The Albatross)
II - Fantasia (The Seal)
Program Notes:
The Albatross and the Seal, written in 2020 for the Frost Stamps Scholarship ensembles’ yearly concert together, is an encapsulation of the best and worst aspects of undergraduate music school life. On one hand, there is the frenetic busyness, monotony, and stress that dominates a student’s daily life; this is illustrated by the loud and boisterous Passacaglia. On the other, there is the fear, uncertainty, and joy that comes with the goal of turning your passion into a profession; the Fantasia attempts to bring these complex feelings to life. Both movements have their own defining motives (the odd meter figure played by the brass at the beginning of the Passacaglia and the swelling gesture played by the woodwinds at the beginning of the Fantasia) that intrinsically tie these two states of being together via their presence throughout the complete work.
“Albatross” is often used as a synonym for stress and corresponds with the first movement. Meanwhile, in many seafaring cultures from modernity and history, seals symbolize dreams, creativity, and a willingness to let life take you where it will; this is represented by the second movement. Both animals are commonly found in the world’s southern oceans and depend on many of the same environmental conditions to survive, even though one is a bird and the other is a sea mammal. As such, they are the perfect figurative analog to the emotions embedded within the work’s core.
Premiere: February 27th, 2020
Shawn Crouch, conductor
Shelly Berg, piano
Frost Stamps Brass Quintet 2020
Frost Stamps Jazz Quintet 2021
Frost Stamps String Quartet 2022
Frost Stamps Woodwind Quintet 2023
Gusman Hall, University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Two Pieces for Viola, Op. 10: No. 2, “Rhapsody on 3 and 4th”
Date Composed: November 2019 | Duration: 6 min. and 30 sec.
Instrumentation: Solo Viola
Program Notes:
Rhapsody on 3 and 4th is a technical showpiece that explores timbral shifts and contrapuntal playing on the viola. It is organized into five contrasting sections around three pitch centers (C, F, and Bb) and two main motivic/melodic ideas that are the basis for the first two sections, respectively. The title originates from these three pitch centers and the interval of a 4th, from which most of the fast, progressive rock-inspired riffs are constructed.
Premiere: March 5th, 2020
Dimitrios Floor, viola
St. Bede Chapel, University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
String Quartet No. 1, “Cobalt,” Op. 6
Date Composed: January 2019 - March 2019 | Duration: 4 min. and 15 sec.
Instrumentation: String Quartet
Program Notes:
A love letter to heavy metal music, this piece attempts to combine the genre’s rhythms, timbres, and gestures with neo-impressionist harmonies and an improvisatory flair. The result is a work featuring electric guitar-esque riffs and runs, extreme dynamic changes, and a healthy mix of both lyrical and screeching melodies. Extended techniques are utilized to mimic whammy bar dive bombs, death growls/shrieks, and amplifier feedback. Structurally, the work is organized in a pseudo-ternary form, with an extended coda at the end. However, each section was inspired by traditional metal songwriting ideas (intro, riff, verse, chorus, bridge, etc). The coda is a not-so-subtle attempt at a breakdown similar to something one might find in a metalcore song!
Premiere: June 22nd, 2019
Plaza Midwood Tattoo
Charlotte, NC
Aftermath, Op. 2
Date Composed: March 2018 | Duration: 2 min. and 20 sec.
Instrumentation: Euphonium and Piano
Program Notes:
Aftermath had its beginnings as an exercise in musical quotation (the quotation being the main melody from Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1) as well as a first attempt at writing for the euphonium. However, the piece quickly took on a life beyond its origin. It gradually builds in intensity, with the quoted melody appearing more frequently, until it reaches a climax and reprises the material from the opening. Musically, the piece evokes sorrowful and melancholic images of places ravaged by tragedies such as war and famine.
Premiere: September 18th, 2018
Jason Donnelly, euphonium
Kevin Knowles, piano
Clarke Recital Hall, University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL