performed by the Eastman Graduate Composers' Sinfonietta. Conducted by Maurice Cohn.

Machine Turn Quickly, for 17 instruments

performed by Sirkku Helin, violin; Derek Louie, cello; Ignacio Ojeda Romero, piano; in the St. Francis Auditorium, Santa Fe, NM.

interpolate, for piano trio

Paul David Flood, voice
Wednesday Hsu, viola
Andrew Bockman, percussion

tkpt, for amplified trio

performed by line upon line percussion

From Anthropocene is a sonic representation of a trip through various epochs of
civilization represented by various modules of distinctive timbres, homemade percussive
instruments, and electronic components. The piece functions as a bidirectional observation
from the present moment to what was and what will be with the piece, performers and their
actions representing the now. Cliché modern observations conclude that with recent
technological and industrial innovations, the historicist idea of “progress” is spinning out of
control, accelerating while simultaneously accumulating an overwhelming amount of
information, data, detritus, and corruption along the way. While the amount of information
circulating at this current moment is vast, the various epochs that the world has experienced
make these vast caches of data mere blips in comparison. The goal of this piece is not only to
cycle, accumulate, accelerate, and overwhelm, but also to eventually downsize the initial
defining material to fleeting microscopic events. By shrinking the impact and size of these
structural moments, the music can reflect the grandiose time scale of the universe by beginning
to cycle through them at a rapid pace. The cyclical nature of time and “historical progress” is
then revealed, deconstructing any potential hypotheses regarding a linear construction of time
in relation to the history of civilization.

From Anthropocene, for amplified percussion trio and electronics

Performed by Shannon Reilly (violin) and Wei-Han Wu (piano) as part of the 2021 June in Buffalo Festival.  

This piece is inspired by Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground. In translating the title from Russian to English, “underground” is understood to be more like a “crawlspace”. The Man from Underground is constantly in conflict with his own contradictory thought patterns leading to what he and the reader perceive as changing shifts in consciousness. One can interpret these shifts as indicators of his slow emergence from underground, only to finally realize that he will always
be trapped due to his learned habits and thought patterns. These shifts of his consciousness are reflected in the piece by viewing very specific thematic elements in different ways throughout the work.

                              

crawl, for amplified violin and piano (2020)

Ian Briffa and Uday Singh, tenor saxophones; Talia Berenbaum, trombone/harmonica; Parker Callister, electric guitar; Kou Muramatsu, piano; Andrew Bockman, percussion. Premiered in Hatch Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY 9/18/23. Conducted by Luke Poeppel.

CANTOS is a piece that implements the narrative of Dante’s Inferno as a pseudo-episodic structure. It begins with an entity straddling consciousness and death, a concept inspired by one of the opening scenes in the 2009 Gaspar Noé film, Enter The Void. The work then follows a tour through the concentric levels of hell as Dante is introduced to them by Virgil. The various musical sections throughout are inspired by what is encountered at each individual level. This includes squanderers jousting with great weights, sinners trapped in tombs of fire, the swampy, stinking waters of the river Styx, as well as the actively wrathful wrestling above the water while the passive lie motionless underneath the surface. Microtonal harmonies and saxophone multiphonics are used in various sections along with slow glissandi to instill a sense of unease and instability. Percussive, polyrhythmic dirges performed by the piano and percussion fade in and out along the way, evoking the distant levels that Dante can hear but not yet see. Distorted guitar and shrieking altissimo notes in the saxophone reflect the eternal punishment the sinners are facing. As the work progresses, similarities begin to show up between formal sections. The hierarchical order of these punishments begins to fade away as the structure reveals itself to be much more cyclical than previously thought. Hell encompasses all.

The Map of Hell, illustration by Sandra Botticelli in mid 1480s- mid 1490s for the illustrated manuscript of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

CANTOS (2023)

Performed by Bethany Mclean in Hockett Recital Hall at Ithaca College on 12/8/17.

Accelerate for flute and fixed electronics

Shaun Rimkunas, conductor
Catherine Sangiovanni, flute; Valerie Nuzzolo, clarinet; Michael Stern,
trumpet; Elliott Mangini, trombone;
Ken O'Rourke, percussion; Dan Monte, percussion; Joon Sang Ko, piano;
Shelby Dems, violin; Esther Witherell, violin;
Zac Cohen, viola; Malachi Brown, cello; Zane Carnes, bass
Premiered in Hockett Recital Hall at Ithaca College on 12/8/17

FLUX For 12 Instruments

Performed by the Unheard-Of Ensemble.
Thumbnail is de Kooning Erasures by Robert Rauschenburg.

Erasures (for amplified trio of B-flat clarinet, cello, and piano)

Performed by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Trevor Wilson, 12/8/19 in Friedberg Hall, Peabody Institute, Baltimore, MD.

Archaic Revival, for orchestra

Composer/Guitarist/Songwriter/Producer from Ithaca, NY. Currently a PhD student at the Eastman School of Music.

Parker Callister

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