"JFK"  
Opera by David T. Little (composer)and  Royce Vavrek (librettist)
"Prologue - Spin, Measure, Cut" 

Fort Worth Opera Chorus
Fort Worth Symphony
Texas Boys Choir
Talise Trevinge As Clara Harris
Steven Osgood, Conductor 

From the orchestral workshop, September 18, 2015, Fort Worth Opera


Fort Worth Opera, Lead Commissioner
Opéra de Montréal, Co-Commissioner
American Lyric Theater, Developmental Co-Commissioner

Copyright © 2015 by Hendon Music, Inc.
a Boosey & Hawkes company.
International copyright secured. All rights reserved.

Posted with permission by Boosey & Hawkes and Fort Worth Opera.

For more information, see: http://www.fwopera.org/opera/jfk/

JFK -  Prologue - Spin, Measure, Cut

Evaporation is a piece for large mixed ensemble that is based on the opening figure on the piano, where a C13 chord is arpeggiated with increasing sustain, depicting evaporation.  The first third of the piece expands on this idea using the winds, especially the use of multiphonics and harmonic glissandi in the saxophone parts.  The second and final thirds of the piece together represent a formal depiction of the idea, the rigid, staccato notes in the second section gradually elongating, with triplets being introduced that eventually flow into the legato third section.  Finally the last third includes a harmonic depiction of evaporation by freely moving through different keys, though it snaps back to a single point as the piano part does in its first figure.

Evaporation

THE ensemble and Carly Stuneck harpsichord soloist.  Conducted by Jonathan Tang.   Performed at CalArts R.O.D. Hall on March 13, 2017.

Concerto For Harpsichord And Strings

Premiered April 14th, 2017 in the Wild Beast at CalArts.
Performed by the New Millennium Brass Ensemble :
Ethan Marks - Trumpet Solo
Cameron Kalemkarian, Lucas Lipari-Mayer, Evan Wendell - Trumpets
Allen Fogel - French Horn
Zach El-Megharbel, John Pisaro - Tenor Trombones
Robert Todd - Bass Trombone
Anthony Mason - Tuba
Edward Carroll - Director

Requiem (to my brother)

@2017
for orchestra
commissioned by Ensemble Nouveau 
Conducted by John Keene 
Premiered at "Grace and Elegance: Schubert 5" at the Sydney Conservatorium in May 2017

Decadence

Count your blessings. Carbs too.
Thanks Roxanne.

enjoy ya meal - electronics (fixed media) - (2018)

The Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky in Alice Tully Hall, April 23rd 2018

On-Again, Off-Again - orchestra

Piece For Woodwind Quartet

Impromptu From The Road

While performing sensory appreciation, each performer uses their breath to determine how long they play a given module out of a set of 47.  The performers start with modules with only one note, played while exhaling.  They progress to modules with a total of 2, then 3, then 4 notes, then back to 3, 2, then 1 note per module (or breath).

The title comes from a term used in Alexander Technique.  It describes the process of gathering information from our senses.  In this context, the word “appreciation” refers to becoming aware of one’s senses, but it can also have a similar meaning to “enjoyment”, “gratitude”, or “understanding” in other contexts.  This piece is about appreciating our senses in every sense of the word.

Many thanks to the Beo String Quartet for rehearsing and performing this piece, as well as the Charlotte New Music Festival for the opportunity to write it!

sensory appreciation

Premiere recording by Wendy Richman as part of the (digital) 2020 Lake George Music Festival Composition Institute.

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The Acquired Inability to Escape takes as its namesake a 1991 work by conceptual artist Damien Hirst which features a desk and office chair, contained within a steel and glass cell.  To me, this imagery ties in with a more recent and loosely defined art genre coined “corporate surrealism,” which as yet is mostly internet- and meme-based.  In my piece, I wanted to explore this intersection of mundane and magical, as well as Hirst’s original themes of corporate dehumanisation and accepted servitude.

The Acquired Inability to Escape

Jonathan Wyatt (b. 1997) is a composer, conductor, and sound artist.  His work often explores relationships, connectivity, and control. He is particularly interested in making art that engages an audience from multiple perspectives, and that blurs the boundaries of form and medium.  Jonathan is influenced by a number of conceptual and visual artists, including Damien Hirst, Yves Klein, Maggi Hambling, David Shrigley, Jeff Koons, and Mike Kelley. He also draws inspiration from trap, hiphop, folk, metal, and indie rock artists.  Some of his favorite composers are Benjamin Britten, Leoš Janáček, Alfred Schnittke, and Moondog.
 
Jonathan has been a fellow at the Atlantic Music Festival, the Red Note New Music Festival, and was a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award.
 
He holds a BM from Shenandoah Conservatory, where he studied with Jonathan Newman and Dr. Natalie Draper.  Raised in a small southern Virginia town, he now lives in Brooklyn NY, and is pursuing an MM at the Mannes School of Music with Dr. David T. Little.