Hollow
Inspired by the atmospheres and downwards narrative pathways of the 2016 video game Inside and a vivid dream of waking up in an unfamiliar industrial corridor, Hollow explores and attempts to illuminate these dark, liminal spaces by slowly shifting and maneuvering through dense, drone-like textures.
Read by the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra on May 2, 2024.
brush and bristle
Between the Northern New Mexican townships of Maxwell and Raton is a rest stop on I-25. From the rest stop, you can take in the landscape you would otherwise see only in brief flashes while traveling down the interstate; tall grasses extend across a vast, open plain, forming a restless blanket of bowing brush, junipers, and cholla. The corresponding soundscape is similarly nuanced, yet deeply subtle; the tall grasses very quietly bristle and shake in tandem with the wind-like gestures resonating from the interstate itself, as if a constant reminder of mankind’s transgressions on this otherwise deeply still and commanding space.
Over the years, the view from the I-25 south rest stop has become strangely iconic in my mind. Not only is it one of the only places on I-25 that feels deeply remote and removed from the cacophony of civilization, but it instantly conjures for me this profound sense of meditation and stillness. However, on the backend of the recent wildfires in Northern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle, both of which were magnified by the influx of tall grasses, it has become challenging not to see the I-25 S rest stop’s landscape as potential for similar devastation. Brush and bristle serves to reconcile these competing visions by fluttering between sonic simulations of the grassy soundscape and its imagined apocalyptic counterpart.
Premiered on April 16th 2024 by Greg Abrell, Jordan Grantonic, Allyson Stibbards, and Peyton Magalhaes at the University of Colorado Boulder.
e(ver)
A short study on the illusion of text and its seeming immortality.
ponderosa effigy
Inspired by a scene from Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian, the remains of a wildfire in Northern New Mexico, and the devastating acequia flash floods in the mountain communities during the summer of 2022, Ponderosa Effigy explores the ever-increasing brutality of New Mexico's wildfire season; expressing the fear and horror conjured by images and stories of affected parts of the state, and fury and anger at the growth of the fossil-fuel industry amidst a hellish climate crisis in such a vulnerable and sacred place.
two scenes from the banks
Inspired by descriptions of Montana's Blackfoot River and fly fishing techniques from Norman Maclean's short story A River Runs Through It (which was later adapted to screenplay in Robert Redford's Academy award-winning film of the same name), two scenes from the banks explores the nuanced sonic atmospheres conjured by mountain rivers and the unique ways in which dry-fly fishing encounters these spaces by replicating the river's complex textures.
Skyscape
A fixed media homage to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
colossus falls with invisible radiance
During our time in the Alaskan tundra while participating in Composing in the Wilderness 2022, we would regularly experience the effects of the distant disintegration of the hanging glaciers perched about the valley we explored; crashes and explosions echoed to our camps several moments after their sources had settled into a cloud of disturbed snow. colossus falls with invisible radiance seeks to recreate that experience; imagining those tons of ice unnoticeably falling gracefully and silently, yielding uncanny moments later to a raucous of mythic proportions.
Purple Sky
Purple Sky -a work for two scordatura cellos, fixed media, and live electronics- is a study on openness, resonance, and resilience; it celebrates the magnificent hues of the New Mexican sky at dusk, ultimately yielding to a somber remembrance of ash falling from the sky during a childhood trip to the Jemez Mountains.
Clearing
Clearing is a collection of three short songs that attempt to emulate the sublime nature of a mountain meadow at night.
Still Country
Still Country is a large-scale multimedia work that explores an abandoned national park through a series of meticulously crafted Max/MSP patches and hand-drawn maps.
Remains of a Permian Gas Station
Remains of a Permian Gas Station is a study on liminal space and an abandoned gas station in West Texas contextualized by the brutal intersectionality of humanity, economics, and the encroaching landscape of the Permian Basin.
Winner of a BMI Student Composer Award (2022)
Winner of the American Prize (2023)
Hold
Hold is a celebration of material and its ability to adapt and persevere in the face of meticulous contextual shifts.
Piney Mountain Pastorals
Piney Mountain Pastorals, inspired by the bluegrass song Damn Old Piney Mountains written by Craig Johnson, is a study on the reclamation of human-ravaged space by nature in the context of the Appalachian logging industry.
Camping Songs
Camping Songs is a reflection on the tranquility of spending time completely surrounded by nature, the happy memories that embody that time, and the deep and bitter sense of nostalgia those memories conjure. Camping Songs is inspired by childhood memories of camping in the Southern Rockies, as well as video games Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch.
Remains of a Permian Homestead
Remains of a Permian Homestead is a reflection on abandoned houses passed on a road trip across West Texas.
Perpetual Motion
A quick viola solo written for longtime friend and violist extraordinaire Devon Duarte.
Rustic Grace
A short violin duet written for Sharan Leventhal and her violin studio at the Boston Conservatory.
Thomas Becomes King
Based on the short story The Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap from The Book of Wonder by Lord Dunsany.
Eggs for Breakfast
A nostalgic look back at a weekly Saturday ritual.
Four Short Songs
A brief series of ideas conjoined on a single, strange canvas.