Wind Sync

'riversong' was written during my year as Composer-In-Residence with the Arizona State University Wind Ensemble. The piece is inspired by the San Marcos River, a spring-fed river which begins in San Marcos, Texas. I lived near the headwaters for a few years, and swam there often. Through the wind ensemble, I tried to depict my many overlapping experiences of the river, different aspects of it that flow through my memory. Some of these ideas include: sunlight glinting on water, rippling textures, a rush of multiple currents, letting things pass you by, and peaceful moments of stillness and suspension around river bends.

Premiered by the ASU Wind Ensemble, directed by Kristen Zelenak, on April 6, 2022.

riversong

for violin and electronics

performed by Julian Nguyen

inspired by the jagged and delicate nature of the plant

Dandelion (excerpt)

Knots seeks the dissolution of discrete sonic elements. Several musical parameters are treated as spectra and materials are stretched, explored, tangled and knotted together. 

This piece was composed in collaboration with bassist Kyle Motl during 2021.

https://www.kylemotl.com/

Knots

This piece was inspired by the process of loss and acceptance. The music works to reconcile the differences between a persistent ostinato and freer, wave-like gestures. Competing materials drift against each other, merge, and condense before ultimately dissipating peacefully.  The amorphous harmonic language represents clouds of bells which collide and blur into each other. 

Cloudlands: a place of dreams, of “impractical speculation”, of unreal skies.

Cloudlands

~a sonic exploration of the microbiome around plant roots~

For about a decade, I have thought of composing as a form of sonic gardening. The processes are very similar in that I cultivate ecosystems of interrelated parts, whether in sound or in the soil. My interests in creating sonic ecosystems and in learning more about environmental issues motivated me to research soil health and the rhizosphere, the microbiome around a plant’s root system. As part of my dissertation project I composed a piece titled The Rhizosphere inspired by the processes and behaviors found in the rhizosphere for percussion sextet of about 8 minutes in duration. The piece explores the dynamic flux, temporal multiplicity, and interrelationships of this underground microbiome.

This piece was commissioned by and is dedicated to Simone Mancuso and the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble. The Rhizosphere was premiered on April 21, 2022.

The Rhizosphere

"I have listened to many refrigerators. There is often a flickering between the sixth and seventh harmonic… Once, while in the process of drinking ouzo ... a refrigerator sent its harmonics out to surround my head with circles, ellipses and figure-eights."
Pauline Oliveros in “Some Sound Observations” (1968) for 'Source: Music of the Avant-Garde'

Fridgesong

Collaborated with Audrey Cullen and Cameo Flores to create Radiance, a piece that explores sonic borders, desert memories, the relationship between the field recordist and her environment. Cullen and Flores premiered Radiance at the 51st National Flute Association Convention, "Beyond Borders," in Phoenix, AZ on August 3.

Radiance

This piece was commissioned by the Texas Flute Society and individual donors Deborah Ragsdale, Ann Vinod, and Spencer Hartman for the 37th Annual Myrna W. Brown Competition. 

This piece explores the ideas of light and shadow and the interplay between them. The title comes from a passage by one of my favorite authors:

"In that moment [he] understood the singing of the bird, and the language of the water falling in the basin of the fountain, and the shape of the clouds, and the beginning and end of the wind that stirred in the leaves; it seemed to him that he himself was a word spoken by the sunlight."

Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)

Live recording by Leslie Richmond, the competition winner.

Spoken by Sunlight

Commissioned by AURORA of Houston, TX in 2016. 
Allison Vitek, flute
Katie Beth Farrell, cello
Susanna Campbell, harp

Houston Fragments (2016)

Kell's Bells (2017)

Laurana Wheeler Roderer, violin 1
Esther Witherell, violin 2
Brooke Mickelson, viola
Dana Hurt, cello

This piece was originally written to be paired with Desert Rain God by Louisa McElwain, and was inspired by the painting’s subject and use of texture and color. The monsoon’s shifting winds disrupt the rain shadow over the desert, bringing summer storms with fluctuating air pressure and sudden downpours.

Laura Brackney

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