"Covered — Held — Crushed … Released
Dead Ice Melting begins 50 feet below Breiðamerkurjökull—an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, the second largest ice cap in Europe. Sounds from the ice caves that wind underneath the glacier are fed back onto themselves, revealing pitches and rhythms not immediately apparent. The clarinetist emphasizes these pitches as they weave in and out of the shifting sonic texture. The layered projections follow the trajectory of the sounds as the listener moves above ground to the newly revealed landscape that stretches in front of the glacier. Course rocks mix with mud and clay in inconsistent layers. Buried just beneath the surface: remnants of the glacier lay frozen—dead ice—not frozen for long."

As Cardinal Glass is the second of three movements from Sculptures from an Amber Plain. The work was conceived as a way to convey the pride and love that local artists have for my home state. Therefore, each movement of the work is designed to take listeners on a tour of the state through the lens of different artists and their artworks. Each of the three movements is based on an artwork with ties to different cities to allow listeners the opportunity to journey and explore the rich offerings that the heartland has to explore. The second movement, As Cardinal Glass, explores the creativity and talent of local artists, such as a dear friend of mine whose stained glass is featured prominently throughout museums and churches. The artist unfortunately passed away due to the pandemic; as such As Cardinal Glass is written as a memorial and testament to his work. Particularly, the piece represents the large 12 panels of stained glass he created for my grandparent's church with each panel representing a biblical scene. I found it interesting that the work was created collectively by the congregation to allow light to stream in and refract in a prism of colors during services. Throughout the work, figures spiral, reflect, and refract through the different panels of the artwork as each pane recontextualizes the material that has come before.

Service, Please! was written using tools developed in Max/MSP. The piece is a sonic exploration of a service bell and its’ various components that make such a simple, widely used sound throughout the world every day. This piece also acts as a narrative that raises the question we all ask as we’ve rung the bell impatiently once, twice, and even a third time: “What’s going on in there?”

The inspiration for "The Sage" mostly comes from the intersection of three elements: variations forms, Schoenberg’s twelve-note method, and Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition (specifically, the third mode). To create the theme, I created a sort of “row” by taking the mode and using all the notes of one of its forms, and then subjected it to all the core serial transformations of inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion. Over the course of the work, I explore different manifestations of this row, ranging from mysterious and lyrical, to ethereal and atmospheric, to witty and playful, to overwhelmingly cataclysmic, before concluding with a truncated statement of the original theme.

"DuoTube" uses YouTube as an interactive instrument, backing track, score, and instructions. Written to be played as a solo or in groups, it is a flexible piece and one that audience members at the conference may take part it. It usually takes no more than five minutes to understand and play.

Written in Logic, Corrupted uses emulated organs and synthesizers to create a slowly corrupting soundscape. It combines a morphing tonal center with ominous noise to create a very unsettling environment. From the intro of a patriotic rock solo that gets taken over by booming falls, to ending with a stretched out and slowly rising version of My Country, Tis of Thee, it hints at the corruption in America. It dies out softly, using bitrate and compression to replicate a corrupted audio file.

"MIA presents listeners with an evening of phantom radio-listening. You'll experience channel-surfing between broadcasts: two presidential addresses concerning press responsibility, interwoven with string quartet passages and a radio play newscast.
The two speeches, though united in topic, diverge dramatically in approach. One president addresses journalists directly with careful rhetoric, acknowledging constitutional limits while appealing to shared civic duty. The other bypasses media gatekeepers entirely, speaking instead to rally attendees in colloquial, confrontational language that characterizes the press as adversarial.
Excerpts from a string quartet provide musical commentary through harmonic restlessness – augmented and diminished chords that destabilize tonal centers, mirroring our fractured information landscape. Arpeggios and scalar runs punctuate the texture, while the ensemble transmits a coded message. This hidden element rewards attentive listeners while functioning abstractly for others.
The composition's fragmented structure resists linear narrative, instead creating layered simultaneity. As you ""switch stations,"" neither voice dominates; both remain partial, interrupted – commentary on our contemporary experience of consuming competing political narratives through fragmented media exposure.
Ultimately, the piece asks: How does presentation shape persuasion? What transforms a request into a demand, or criticism into incitement? By stripping these addresses from their original contexts and repositioning them within a shared sonic space, the composition invites reflection on rhetoric, authority, and the role of a free press within democracy.
Listening recommendation: Sit in the middle to maximize experience."

Saffron Sun traces the transformation of the sun at sunset when it reaches the deep golden-yellow hue to fiery orange. The piece unfolds slowly as the colors begin to transform. The tempo increases and a driving rhythm and tempo highlights the color change signified at the key change.