written for & premiered by the Attacca Quartet at the Phillips Collection on 04.20.21

note| Imago is a response to artworks that, due to the pandemic, I couldn’t see or interact with in real life. The distance from the pieces and the wonderful Attacca Quartet created something of a disembodied writing experience. Untitled & The Allusion of Gravity exist most clearly in my mind, illuminated and filled in by imagination & impression. However, I can’t draw on the memories or emotions of first sight, deep study, or sketching in their presence. What did translate over the internet and staring my eyes red at the laptop screen, was the musicality and impossible figurations of Linn Meyers’ and Alyson Shotz’s incredible works. Their limited materials, repetition, and sheer physicality of process made me determined to bring those presences into this new work and seek proximities. 

Repetition, for me, is queer — pushing to see a single moment from every angle, the desire to experience multiplicity, recognizing the capacity of objects to move in a thousand directions at once. I wrote to invoke images of physical creation with timbre, process, and shared materials. I strove to interact the motion of drawing with the smooth movement of a quartet of bows, of adding detail with pen or brush as dragging tightened hair. I saw the physicality and endurance of continuous motion, bowing or harmonics or strums or dense harmonies, as the bending and beading of a complex work. I sought the infinite shapes and implications of a group orientation towards sculpture or magnified square of mylar - in their overlapping vision, a new and beautiful object. A wider perspective. 

(Imago is the final stage of insects metamorphosis - happy cicada year)

Imago [2021] | Attacca Quartet

commissioned by The Primavera Project for Matt Haimovitz in response to Charline von Heyl's 'Primavera 2020'

note| 'the motion between three worlds draws inspiration from the transitional aspects of Spring, centering poetics of new growth, creation, and interconnectivity. The score behaves as a cosmological map, providing visual frameworks for navigation and movement between sets of given harmonic and timbral materials. The directionality of visual objects, lines of connectivity, and cosmological imagery help inform trajectories of transformation. The player is asked to ‘always be moving between.’'

for more information on the project: https://www.theprimaveraproject.com/

the motion between three worlds [2020] | Matt Haimovitz

commissioned & recorded by escapeVelocity, 2020-21
violin - Giancarlo Latta
piano - Robert Fleitz

earthmaker [2020] | escapeVelocity

commissioned & premiered by the JACK Quartet during TIME:SPANS 2021

note| mayu: the great river is inspired by Andean (South American Indigenous) cosmology & iconography through the lens of queerness, diaspora, and separation. The score works as an ecosystem for connecting living constellations, musical materials, and the individual/collective experience of time. The piece is a reflection on the multiple temporalities experienced and harnessed by displaced, erased, and structurally excluded peoples. These layers of time, the material and immaterial, are sources of joy | resilience | survival, and perhaps, future.

mayu: the great river [2021] | JACK Quartet

performed by ensemble reflektor, conducted by Thomas Klug on 10.16.21 in Saint John's Church in Lüneburg, DE during the ultraBACH Festival 2021

[this performance was spatialized in the church, surrounding the audience in the pews]

note | Talamh (land) comes from old Irish and is one of the three fundamental spaces of their cosmology: nem-talamh-muir : the sky, the earth, the sea. This work explores distinct and connected sonic landscapes, using structure and ensemble interactivity to foreground individual choices in pitch, registration, and timbre. It’s a way for me to connect to home and recall many of the rich and magical mountains, streams, and forests I walked through with my papa, Peter, in Ireland since very young.

Talamh (land) [arr. string orchestra, 2021] | ensemble reflektor

performed on October 21st, 2021 during Bowling Green State University's New Music Festival by the BGSU New Music Ensemble

flute - claudia aizaga
clarinet - abby cline
violin - malika lauren brower
cellos - anthony marchese & otávio manzano kavakama
pianos - humay gasimzade & jorge potyguara de freitas
vibraphone - nicholas fox
harp - shelly du
accordion - pablo gómez estévez
conductor - chloe calvino

Openwork, knotted object... [2019] | BGSU New Music Ensemble

performed by ensemble reflektor, conducted by Oscar Jockel on 10.14.21 in Saint John's Church in Lüneburg, DE during the ultraBACH Festival 2021

coradh is gaelic for ‘bending’ or ‘turning’ | I’ve been long interested in the experience of sonic friction through the bending of unisons and octaves, especially the physical sensations when vocalizing. This piece works to keep its materials and spaces fairly simple, facilitating space for audience participation in the creation of rich, varied, spontaneous musical texture and color. I hope to participate myself soon.

coradh (bending) [2021] | ensemble reflektor

performed by the Walden School Players at The Walden School on 07.23.2021

Laura Cocks - Flute
Dana Jessen - Bassoon
Erica Dicker - Violin
Mabel Kwon - Piano
Kyra Sims - Horn
Chris Wild - Cello

Form the Fabric [2020] | Walden School Players

performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble at The Walden School on 07.16.2021

Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, flute
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Jacob Greenberg, piano
Niloufar Shiri, kamancheh
Jennifer Curtis, violin
Katinka Kleijn, cello

Openwork, knotted object... [2019] | International Contemporary Ensemble

performed by UC San Diego's red fish blue fish percussion group on 11.06.22 at the Conrad Prebys Music Center's Experimental Theatre

percussionists - Mitchell Carlstrom, Kosuke Matsuda, Yongyun Zhang

note | Inspired Joy Harjo’s poetry, this piece centers the nature of creation stories in relation to indigenous identity. Much of native belief and collective knowledge stem from oral traditions and the lens their provide is core to our understanding of the world and the spirits that live with us. ‘To give you form and breath’ seeks to channel portions of that understanding through ‘ground’ objects and manipulations of rhythm as manipulations of time.

To give you form and breath [2019] | red fish blue fish

commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Gustavo Dudamel, Music & Artistic Director
premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with soloist Jay Campbell, conducted by Vimbayi Kaziboni
recorded at Walt Disney Concert Hall, courtesy of the LA Phil

excerpt of first five minutes, of ~twelve 

note | Amaru refers to the world serpent in Andean cosmology - rainbow-colored, two-headed, and dwelling beneath the earth. Associated with the emergence of underground water sources and transitions between worlds, Amaru is also related to the dark constellation serpent Mach’acuay whose seasonal appearance coincides with the warm rain season in the Andes and the appearance of terrestrial snakes.

'Amaru' joins a group of recent works that engage Andean & Irish cosmologies, my ancestry. With the distinct opportunity to write for the end of a program and next to a previous work, 'Talamh (land)', I wanted to explore a somewhat risky process: that of detuning an orchestra of strings. As 'Talamh' explores the topographies of Ireland through focused soundscapes, I wanted 'Amaru' to explore the loosening and tightening of ensemble, strings, conductor, and soloist through rich harmonies, wild harmonic gestures, and emergent, cyclic forms.

Amaru [2022] | LA Phil

performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Vimbayi Kaziboni
recorded at Walt Disney Concert Hall, courtesy of the LA Phil

excerpt of first five minutes, of ~twelve

note | 'Talamh (land)' comes from old Irish and is one of the three fundamental spaces of their cosmology: nem-talamh-muir : the sky, the earth, the sea. This work explores distinct and connected sonic landscapes, using structure and ensemble interactivity to foreground individual choices in pitch, registration, and timbre. It’s a way for me to connect to home and recall many of the rich and magical mountains, streams, and forests I walked through with my papa, Peter, in Ireland since very young.

Talamh (land) [2020] | LA Phil

performed by Wild Up at the LA Phil Noon to Midnight Festival on April 9th, 2022
recorded at Walt Disney Concert Hall, courtesy of the LA Phil
photo by Susanna Hancock

note | 'Form the Fabric' derives from NMAI archaeologist Ramiro Mato's phrase describing the cosmological understandings of the Incan & Andean peoples through description of the Inca Road as 'threads interwoven to form the fabric of the physical and spiritual world. This work was made in New York City in January of 2020.

Form the Fabric [2020] | Wild Up

premiered by Parlando, conducted by Ian Niederhoffer @ Merkin Hall on April 24th, 2022

'ensemble forecast' for flexible large ensemble

note | Coming from two earthy and rainy places (Ireland and Ecuador) has given me something of a mystical relationship with weather. I had a ring when I was young that I swear could control the weather; when I wished it would rain, most often to make my dad come home early from his work outside, it would rain. That’s all I ever asked of it and it happily obliged, especially when it was in season. I lost that ring sometime later, but it still feels part of me - a sense of knowing and joy when weather is coming.

​Rainmaking is also an essential ritual for Andean peoples, where my family originates, and there is a whole festival dedicated to the regeneration and welcome of the water in the cosmos back to the earth.
​
‘Ensemble forecasting’ is a numerical method of weather prediction using a set or spread of possible variations to more accurately predict how weather systems might manifest in our uncertain atmosphere.

ensemble forecast [2022] | Parlando

performed by Ensemble Dal Niente on June 10th, 2022 @ Holtschneider Performance Center, Chicago, IL

Zach Good, clarinet
Hannah Christiansen, violin
Constance Volk, flute
Mabel Kwan, piano
Ben Melsky, harp
Kyle Flens, percussion
Juan Horie, cello

Openwork, knotted object...[2019] | Ensemble Dal Niente

photo by Zach Mendez

Allie Taylor - violin
Sarah Beth Overcash - violin
Sophie Choate - violin
Zechariah Mo - viola

placing ceremony [2018, rev. 2022] | music academy of the west

performed by New World Symphony
commissioned by NWS Blue Projects '23-24

'eight hands reaching' is inspired by the graveyard of a thousand airplanes slowly rising to the heavens in Hayao Miyazaki’s 'Porco Rosso.'

eight hands reaching [2023] (preview) | New World Symphony

live performance by the Fidelio Trio at Ithaca College on February 26th, 2024

note | This past Fall I spent countless hours roaming the gardens of Dumbarton Oaks as their Musician-in-Residence. I took particular joy in listening to the changing soundscapes throughout the day, from colorful talkative birds to plump, overly comfortable rabbits chewing right by my feet. At dusk, the insects took over and I would make a point to join them each evening. Sometimes I would see shadows at the edge of my vision that would move with me.

Near the end of my residency I shared those experiences with other fellows, slightly jokingly. But they shared their own numerous experiences with shadows in the garden. It didn’t feel too surprising; gardens have their own memories and ghosts, especially, I’m sure, those with complicated legacies. I’m happy they felt comfortable enough to say hello.

shadow in the garden [2023] | Fidelio Trio

::use headphones::

Premiered by Benjamin Teague at Lovely Lane Methodist Church on April 21st.

Mix by Matt Chilton

Beating For Pipe Organ

recorded by the RTE Contempo Quartet, 07/18

note | 'love reacts only' combines shared materials and trajectories with spontaneous player cues to create complex group gestures, textures, and timbral interactions.

love reacts only | ConTempo Quartet

‘recorded stories about growing up and existing as women and queer people of color while making tea. Also featuring transducers, detuned mandolins, djembe, a two-tone kettle, and a string quartet.’

premiered by PUBLIQuartet at the New Latin Wave Festival, curated by Angélica Negrón.

Tea en mi casa | PUBLIQuartet

performed by the Cadenza Collective @ Walters Art Museum Sculpture Gallery, Baltimore MD as part of a partnership with Peabody Institute of Music of the Johns Hopkins University

older blood [2018] | Peabody Cadenza Collective

for and recorded by Gleb Kanasevich, Bronx NYC

'no words' is a reflection on different forms of police violence and navigating spaces as a queer person of color. The score incorporates visual and poetic elements to inform choices of pedals, patches, and/or other types of electronics as well as local & structural interpretation.

no words | gleb kanasevich

premiered by the National Sawdust Ensemble @ National Sawdust on June 4th, 2019- as one of the winners of their 2019 Hildegard Competition.

Lidiya Yankovskaya, Conductor
Allison Loggins-Hull, flute
Oran Etkin, clarinet
Sugar Vendil, piano
Ian Rosenbaum, percussion
Miranda Cuckson, violin
Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

Charles Hagaman, NS Technician

Openwork, knotted object // Trellis in bloom // lightning ache [2019] | National Sawdust Ensemble

note| Primavera crown is an encounter between conflicting ethics of my work — the role of individual imagination and expressive possibility against the large canvas of chamber orchestra. The work brings into conversation aesthetic materials across different contemporary classical practices and places them within a liberatory framework, drawn from the socioeconomic realities of racialized spaces. Do these materials have the capacity to grow beyond their dominant origins?

The result opens a space for confrontation: on the one hand, its expressive sonic spaces and trajectories profoundly engage my imagination; on the other I struggle, from a philosophical perspective, with the mechanisms and aesthetics I’m invoking and their connotations. 

_______

premiered by Alarm Will Sound on July 27th, 2019 @ The Missouri Theatre during the Mizzou International Composer's Festival

flower by Ella Joklik

20190727B - 8 World Premieres

Primavera crown [2019] | Alarm Will Sound

for 3 percussionists - <2x woodblock, 3x flower pot, 2x non-resonating metal, 2x resonating metal, 3x glass bottle>/player

-this piece channels creation myths-

performed by the Mizzou Percussion Department @ Mizzou International Composer's Festival 2019 - Megan Arns, Hannah Hutchins, and Brianna Trainor

photo by Dale Lloyd

To give you form and breath [2019] | Mizzou Percussion

written for & premiered by Spektral Quartet at the Taproot New Music Festival @ UC Davis | 01.31.2020

Talamh (land) comes from old Irish and is one of the three fundamental spaces of their cosmology: nem-talamh-muir : the sky, the earth, the sea. This work explores distinct and connected sonic landscapes, using structure and ensemble interactivity to foreground individual choices in pitch, registration, and timbre. It’s a way for me to connect to home and recall many of the rich and magical mountains, streams, and forests I walked through with my papa, Peter, in Ireland since very young.

Talamh (land) [2020]| Spektral Quartet

'Form the Fabric' derives from NMAI archaeologist Ramiro Mato's phrase describing the cosmological understandings of the Incan & Andean peoples through description of the Inca Road as 'threads interwoven to form the fabric of the physical and spiritual world.

commissioned by Crash Ensemble and New Music Dublin with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland 2020

premiered by Crash Ensemble during New Music Dublin 2020 @ The National Concert Hall, Dublin Ireland

Form the Fabric [2020] | Crash Ensemble

recorded at merkin hall @ kaufman center in early september 2020

violin - pala garcia
cello - alexis gerlach
piano - peggy kampmeier
clarinets/recorder - moran katz

written for the CULTIVATE fellowship, part of Music at Copland House

note| I see fundamental connections between the improvisatory and interpretative processes in my music and the formation of new, imagined histories of indigenous peoples. I think violence lives in our bones and our blood and that we still feel remnants from the first settlers to murder and poison our ancestors. Imagining a future for us means imagining a past separate from the settler-colonialism that killed so many of our mythologies and stories.

When I think about Steve Mackey's piece 'Indigenous Instruments', I think about the power of a white man's imagination. The power of being able to conjure into being a New Indigenous peoples, not ravaged by genocide. I imagine the power of being celebrated, featured, and written about for it.

Perhaps it's just a small piece in the scheme of things, but I can't shake how much that piece radicalized me to tell my own stories, to imagine new pasts and futures, and to fundamentally understand that white people gain their power from stealing our traditions and knowledges, our proximity to the divine, the cosmological, and the truth.  -- ifv 2020 nyc

new cosmologies [2020] | music from copland house

[piece title] [year written] | [performing ensemble]

inti figgis-vizueta (b.1993) is a composer and educator who works to reconcile historical aesthetics and experimental practices with trans & Indigenous futures. Described as a “rising new music star” (LA Times), with “smooth and serrated melodies” (New York Times) and an “intriguing…highly integrated sound” (Gramophone), “wrought from a language we’d do well to learn” (Washington Post), inti has been commissioned and performed by leading artists including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Dallas Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, New World Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Reflektor, Aspen Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Spoleto Music Festival, Kennedy Center’s Sounds of US Festival, International Contemporary Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Wild Up, Roomful of Teeth, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, Kronos Quartet, Attacca Quartet, JACK Quartet, Music from Copland House, Crash Ensemble, violinist Jennifer Koh, and cellists Andrew Yee and Jay Campbell, among many others. inti’s work has been featured at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall Concert Hall, Symphony Center, REDCAT, National Concert Hall (IE), Southbank Centre (UK), Philharmonie de Paris (FR), Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (NL), and Konzerthaus Berlin (DE). 

Upcoming projects include Earths to Come in VR for the Venice Film Festival, mad scramble for crumbs for Opera Saratoga, Metahaven’s film The Feeling Sonnets, and works for flutist Claire Chase, pianist James McVinnie, and cellist Andrew Yee with Roomful of Teeth. inti is the recipient of the Lotos Foundation Prize, ASCAP Foundation Fred Ho Award, National Sawdust Hildegard Award, Café Royal Foundation Music Grant and residency fellowships from Dumbarton Oaks, Civitella Ranieri, Juilliard Summer Percussion, and Music at Copland House.

inti has held faculty positions with Luna Composition Lab (21-24’), Wildflower Composers (20-22’), Fresh Inc Festival (22’), and Atlanticx Composition (21’). She regularly lectures on her music with recent visits to Harvard University, The Juilliard School, Peabody Conservatory, and CalArts, among many others. inti has curated programs for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella series, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Current Series, Wild Up’s Darkness Sounding, and American Composers Orchestra SONiC Festival. She is the 2024 Robert M. Trotter Lecturer for the College Music Society 67th National Conference. 
​
inti studied with Marcos Balter, Felipe Lara, Donnacha Dennehy, and George Lewis. Her mentors include ﻿Tania León﻿, Nico Muhly, Angélica Negrón, Derek Bermel, and Andrew Norman, among many others. inti honors her Quichua bisabuela who was the only woman butcher on the plaza central and used to fight men with a machete.

inti figgis-vizueta

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