Movement I is constructed from bird song of the wood thrush native to eastern North America. Each rehearsal letter introduces a new melodic fragment followed by variation (which the bird also does naturally and quite skillfully). Movement II explores timbre and texture and suggests the surrounding wood and glade the bird calls home.

Approximate duration: 10 min.
Electronics composed by Chris Ferree.

Premiere performance: March 11th 2021 by Adam Vidiksis as part of the Berklee SPLICE collaboration project.

wood thrush for drumset and electronics

alight for orchestra

This recording was created as part of the 2021 June in Buffalo Festival, with each performer recording individually and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ensemble Signal, Brad Lubman, conductor; Kelli Kathman, flute; Adrián Sandí, clarinet; Lisa Moore, Piano; Courtney Orlando, Violin; Lauren Radnofsky, Cello. Sound Engineering, editing, mixing and mastering by Paul Coleman.

Read the preliminary essay here:
https://bit.ly/3gFOwAo

Currents | Ensemble Signal

Clara Kim, violin
Giancarlo Latta, violin
Carrie Frey, viola
Meaghan Burke, cello

Reading at the 2021 Bowdoin International Music Festival

Sparks for string quartet

Dreams of Ascension for violin - Lilit Hartunian

Premiered July 16th, 2021 by Chao-Chih George Chen
as part of the Bowdoin International Music Festival

Bridge for clarinet

I wrote this piece after spending a few springs exploring the harsh,
beautiful landscapes of the Colorado Plateau and its many canyons.

Premiered by and dedicated to Ting Luo at the SPLICE Institute June 2022

Canyon Sonata for piano with electronics

Premiered August 1st, 2021 at Bowdoin International Music Festival
Percussion: Victor Sintchak, Luke Rinderknecht, Jack Fischer, and Kunal Gala
(Rehearsal recording)

Resonance And Inflection

Mosaic

Premiered by Tony Arnold, Natasha Gwirceman, and Ryan Ghassemi June 2023 at New Music on the Point
---
My love, I am lost,
and so are you.
(We are both lost,
but not together)

Meanwhile...

the path has become
slick with rain,
the wood darkens.
Dusk fights meekly against
the darkening wood.

My love, I am only at 11%,
and... there is something... else...
it lurks... unseen... the beast!

Meanwhile...

the cold has become
a bitter pain,
the wood darkens.
Night falls. [lights out]

Shhh... I hear something!

***

The beast?

My love, I am lost,
and so are you.
(We are both lost,
but not together)

Who will be found first?
Me or you?

I must be,
to save you.

Meanwhile...

The path has become
slick with rain.

I must be,
to save you.

O beast!
Hear me sing,
and find me!

My love, I am lost,
but you may still be saved.

***
Adele — Set Fire to the Rain
***

Did it work?
Shit, I am at 3%.

Shhh... I hear something!

***

My love, I am lost,
and so are you.
(We are both lost,
but not together)

Meanwhile...

the cold has become
a bitter pain,
although... the pine and cedar
smell good.

Goodbye my love.

The beast...

It comes for me!
I hear it!
I feel it!
I must away!

and...! there is something...! else...!

My phone is dead!

Bring An Umbrella

—In Memoriam Olivier Messiaen—
Originally for piano, arranged for chamber orchestra
Performed by Juilliard students

Rain Tree Sketch II - 雨の樹素描 II - Takemitsu arr. Gala

Abhla bharat refers to the mirror-work quintessential to the rich embroidery tradition of Gujarat, India.

Performed by the PUBLIQuartet during their residency at Berklee College of Music (November 2020)

String Quartet - Abhla Bharat

Duo For Marimba And Clarinet

Performed by the Underground Choir at Berklee

sea of trees for SATB

This is a light and jovial piece. It is in part, a response to the interlude from Messiaen’s quartet pour la fin du temps. The music rocks back and forth between an E and G center point, dipping down briefly, for the middle section, into a warmer C root.

Thank you to Ana Luisa Diaz de Cossio Sanchez (Vln), Hannah Soren (vc) and Szu-ning Tai (Hp) who premiered the piece (Feb. 20th 2020)

Harp Trio

Kunal Gala (b. 1998) is a composer and percussionist based in Queens, NY. His work explores the convergence of tradition, technology, and rhythm. He investigates the humanity within nature and the relationships between resonance, fragmentation, and virtuosity.

He has worked with Ensemble Signal, Argus Quartet, and Hypercube Ensemble, among others, at festivals such as the Bowdoin International Music Festival, June in Buffalo, and New Music at the Point. His awards include the John Bavicchi Memorial Prize (2021) and Vuk Kulenovic Memorial Prize (2020). He won the Da Camera Content (2018) and Rachel Moore Contest (2017), and was selected for MainStage after collaboration with choreographers at the Boston Conservatory.

Gala studied percussion with Nancy Zeltsman and is a founding member of neither/nor (2018), a Boston-based ensemble focused on contemporary improvisation. He studied jazz drum set through high school and grew up playing in musicals, jazz band, wind band, drum corps, and orchestras. Previous to his matriculation at Berklee College of Music, he studied Hindustani Classical music for ten years.

Last fall, he began a masters in composition at Juilliard, in Andrew Norman's studio.

Kunal Gala

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