Listen in order from top to bottom. A link to the PDF's of each work are placed below the audio/video boxes.
and then a world fell from my mouth
and then a world fell from my mouth is a piece of damnation and of hope. The work is structured around a musical quote from the Deus Meus of Penderecki’s Passio et mors Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam. At this moment in the Passion, Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The profound nature of this moment serves as a backdrop of humanity’s own forsakenness in the face of cycles and systems of violence and war that rage through our history and present. Yet, as ingrained as these horrors seem to be in the human condition, so are the desires of peace and hope for a better future.
This piece is an expression of these thoughts.
{/\}
{/\} is a memory refusing to flicker out of existence. While not directly quoting existing folk music, the work draws
deeply from my Appalachian heritage combining vocalistic qualities and impressions of improvisational singing with timbres and gestures evocative of natural elements such as wind and water to create my own Appalachian folk song. {/\} alternates between moments of raw distortion and crystalline clarity, capturing the contrasts that I feel are at the heart of Appalachia; a place of great beauty and resilience, but also of struggle and melancholy. A region that is somehow both timeless yet ever changing. Through these contrasts, I hope to convey a sense of Appalachia’s complexity—its enduring connection to the past, even as it faces an uncertain future. This work is as much about memory as it is about the present, exploring the way a place can hold both loss and possibility in equal measure. This piece is an expression of these thoughts.
Scattered
Scattered is a dynamic expression of sudden loss, change, and frustration, with the form and materials reflecting the unpredictable shifts between the denial, anger, and acceptance stages of grief.
more man than machine
more man than machine is a piece about beauty and brutality. It is a reflection on the myriad manmade structures - both tangible and abstract - that shape human experience. The work is particular focused on exploring the connection between seemingly natural and obviously fabricated systems, highlighting their capacity to reflect our most profound human qualities as well as their potential to embody our
darkest impulses.