When composing Jaunt, I wanted to explore very quick contrasts between different types of material. After a slow introduction, this fast-paced piece alternates three materials: marcato counterpoint and chords, quieter legato melodic lines, and rapid scales. The electronics consist of a delay effect (using amplitude tracking to only affect the loudest notes), a repeating note that plays the central pitch of the harmony, and a harmonizer that adds a glitchy effect to the scale material. Through the rest of the piece, I alter these materials to go through other dramatic moods: a section with repeating notes in extreme registers, then a section which slowly crescendos, leading to a coda with dense chords in the electronics. All these effects serve to showcase the virtuosity of the pianist and to create as much rhythmic variety as possible from a constant pulse.
Reed Mullican: Jaunt
Nate Sassoon: Explorer
With Explorer I hope to create something both futuristic and primal. The music is also inspired by the sounds of the flute instruments of prehispanic Mexico.
Yuanning Gao: Uncharted Resonance
Uncharted Resonance explores the gradual accumulation and dissolution of sound. The electronics introduce six pitches sequentially, forming a hexachord, while the viola interacts with and weaves through the evolving harmonic landscape. As the piece unfolds, the pitches are taken away in reverse order, revealing a sense of impermanence and transformation. This dynamic interplay between growth and decay invites the listener into a constantly shifting sonic space.
Hsuan Chang Kitano: Noisy Silence
Waves rise, retreat—
to ocean or vein.
A line bends.
Breaks.
Reforms.
Pending. Denied.
When does waiting
become a life?
A stamp:
smudged,
discarded.
“Overqualified.” “Temporary.”
Dreams shrink—
to fit the fine print.
Tongues twist,
names dulled,
histories silenced.
What remains
when a body forgets its name?
Too much.
Not enough.
Washed ashore—
driftwood,
echoes in salt air.
Not exile,
but extraction.
Not survival,
but reduction.
A current—
not a place,
but what’s left behind.
Laura Pacheco Nieto: Lo que nos queda
Lo que nos queda (What we have left) is a piece that evokes a meditation in the middle of nature. The piece is built through the progressive addition of layers with different sound elements, representing the process of going deeper and deeper into the mind and spirit. In the midst of this weaving, three words are repeated like a mantra: tiempo, tierra y raices (time, earth and roots). These are three pillars that are very significant in my life and on which I constantly reflect, precisely, as a daily mantra.