A dance piece created in collaboration with choreographer Kaitlyn Soo. May 2011.

It's This One...

Performed by Sarah Shafer (soprano), Soovin Kim (violin), Steven Laraia (viola), and Emily Taubl (cello) at the 2014 Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont.

Poem by Chelsea Komschlies:

Narrow are the broken spines who told of this.
Few the ink-blots, dust, and dank, and paper-thin.
Empty bone-box of the one who cared of this,
Now rattled on the glass-white shore of must and sin.

Lovely are the tiny souls we made for this
Evanescent tendrils of the shiv’ring swans, which,
Caked with chalky powder from the falling mists
of Wisdom, wonder why it is that warmth is gone.

Fragile willows stoop to steal a raspy kiss
from silent flutt’ring lashes thread and bone made dull.
Glass beneath is clouded through with loneliness
And cries the tears that all the world finds beautiful.

About the Piece: 

This piece is about fascination with pain as a thing of beauty. The poem was inspired by the peculiar yet popular trend of young women seeking online recognition and approval by objectifying themselves as frail, arcane, faceless, skeletal, suffering, doll-like creatures in photographic self-portraits. The poem comments on this occurrence while simultaneously conjuring the sorts of images associated with these portraits. 

This work, like many of my compositions, is inspired by the aesthetic of the Steampunk genre and of filmmaker Tim Burton.

* * * * * * * * 

This painting by Italian artist Francesco Balsamo (http://www.francescobalsamo.it/site.php?pag=francesco&tip=page) originally inspired me to write the poem.

I created a Pinterest board as further visual inspiration as I composed, which you can see here: http://www.pinterest.com/ckomschlies/inspiration-03/

Narrow Are the Broken Spines

Messin With the Kid

An excerpt of "Runaway", composed for "The Trap" (2015, Burst Pictures). Directed by Adam Estey

Original Music from The Trap | Runaway

This performance is from the 2023 SICPP in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Text is by Sarah Manguso, music by Marti Epstein, performed beautifully by Leah Podzimek (soprano) and Jan Berry Baker (alto saxophone).

The Origin Of Human Love

Signore Ascolta from Turandot

Shara Worden, soprano; yMusic. Words by Ivanna Yi. Recorded live at Ecstatic Music Festival.

Identical Twin (2011, live)

Bel Mercy is out now! https://open.spotify.com/track/1635wWSdp29PO3GxYhy991?si=BrdXY4ahSK2hJFJtuIMnSQ


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Bel Mercy

Brand new remix, for the band Wild Belle

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Signore Ascolta from Turandot

Leah Podzimek

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