Lo Siento (2007) for 2-ch digital audio

Written for the 60x60 2007 Midwest Mix

“I have discovered that all human evil comes from this,
man’s being unable to sit still in a room.”
-Blaise Pascal

Bembero (2006) for 4- ch digital audio (stereo version)

Bembero is a pastiche of African rhythm and melody from Guinea and Mali, featuring instruments such as the dundunba, djembe, mbira, and shekere.
The work takes you from Guinea to Mali and back through the presentation of mbira songs from each African nation (Bembero and Bukatiende, respectively). These melodies are surrounded by rhythms that are indigenous to each country - the Sofa and Koredjuga from Guinea, and the Sunum from Mali. All material in the piece was derived from the recordings of these sources, and have been manipulated through digital processing. Many thanks to percussionist Gordon Kay for his assistance.

Versus (2005) for two pianists and percussion

Sean Darby, Christopher Cree, percussion; Pei-I Wang, piano/celesta; Chu-chun Liang, piano.

Versus, for percussion, vibraphone, piano and celesta, superimposes four different strands of music over its ten-minute length. Each strand has particular characteristics: Two strive to accumulate density in either sonority (vertical accumulation) or gesture (horizontal accumulation), while the other two are concerned with maintaining stasis in either sonority or gesture. These opposing strands are passed from player to player, creating duos and trios of disparate material. Unison antiphons periodically interrupt this process to provide contrast.

Anamnesis (2005) for 4-ch digital audio (stereo version)

Anamnesis, which literally means a recalling to memory, or recollection, was realized using raw materials from the Yamaha TX-516 tone generator, subjected to digital processing, and is presented in four-channel mono. It uses both traditional and current methods of realization to bridge the past and the present. Compositionally, the work began as a single gesture, which was dismantled and separated to form three. These three gestures are structural points in the six-minute work. Since these three gestures were once one, they provide unity and balance that is also a sort of anamnesis.

Podia (2004) for Piano and 4-ch digital audio (2-ch ver.)

for piano and 4-channel digital audio (10:00) stereo version

Soohyun Yun, piano

Podia for Piano and Multi-channel Electro-acoustic Accompaniment was commissioned by Jana Mason and Richard Anderson for the 21st Century Piano Commission Contest, Urbana, Illinois, and first performed at the Foellenger Great Hall in the Krannert Center of the Performing Arts in February 2004 by pianist Soohyun Yun. This ten minute work is homage to the Foellenger Great Hall at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts celebrating its 35th anniversary of being the cultural centerpiece of downstate Illinois. Derived from the Greek for 'foot', Podia is an architectural term for a supporting wall around the arena of an amphitheater, to serve as a base for the tiers of seats. By composing with the architectural makeup of the hall as a source for an abstract musical structure, Podia mirrors the very existence of the Great Hall in musical terms, thereby establishing an intimate connection between the music and its performance environment.

Contact (2003) for chamber orchestra

UI New Music Ensemble - Geoffrey Clift, conductor

Contact, for 16 players, superimposes four different strands of music over its ten-minute length. Some of these fragments are undulating and rhythmic, while others are more lyrical, sustained and timbral; shifting canons tie them together. Sometimes the strands appear separately, while at other times two, three, or all four intersect. "Contact" occurs at these collisions, creating dramatic, structural points.

Montage (2003) for 4-ch digital audio (2-ch ver.)

Originally conceived as a collection of seven miniature independent movements, Montage consolidates these miniatures into a continuous one-movement work. Sounds were produced from the manipulation of recorded objects and incidental text and utterances. The work establishes a continuum between these two sources by blurring the distinction of spoken language in order to create abstract sound, and manipulating recorded objects to mimic speech. Each section of the Montage draws from this continuum in different ways, maintaining a balance somewhere between speech and sound. This work was completed in two-channel form in September 2003, and was remixed in February 2004 for four-channel presentation.

Minimus (2002) for doublebass and percussion

Brian Nesselroad, percussion; Phillip Hales, double bass

Minimus discusses the similarities and differences of instrumental language between these two instruments. While the means to produce musical language between each instrumentalist differ, they can both communicate via quite similar means, creating a very intimate connection. The piece explores the interplay of gestures that are used in both instrumental realms. Their idiomatic interpretations, however varied from each other, are displayed as either bonding elements or points of opposition. The structure is derived from the change-ringing system Plain Bob Minimus.

Bob (2002) for solo piano

Marian Lee, piano

Bob (for piano) was completed in 2002, and is composed of three movements with two interludes. Each of the three movements is related in that they all employ, in different ways, the same change-ringing permutation called Plain Bob Minor. The title is thus derived from the name of this numeric system. All three movements seem to exert a feeling of kinetic energy, as the momentum set up by the algorithm is set into motion by the adjustments of the composer. The desired effect is, (1) an ebb and flow of time, (2) a mobile-like presentation of the system in action, and (3) an ebb and flow of sonority.