Classical Works

Synchro (Cicada) came about after reading about the incredible emergence of Brood X, the latest Cicada brood to emerge in the spring of 2021. This rare event, occurring every 17 years, is rivalled in its visual impact only by the cacophonic song produced by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drum-like tymbals in the Cicadas’ abdomen.

Aside from the incredible sounds produced by the insects, the precise synchronicity achieved between billions of individuals, measurable down to the day, interested me greatly, and is a factor I attempted to explore in Synchro (Cicada). Synchronization between extremely fast-moving parallel drum-machine beats to create a cohesive structure at both the micro and macro level was an attempted goal throughout the piece.

Micropolyphony was also employed as a means of applying line and gesture to repeating ostinato figures and textural material, in order to shape a larger sense of form throughout the piece.

Synchro (Cicada) for Jaw Harp, Shaker, and Analogue Drum Machine

Performed by Felix Fan as part of the 2021 soundSCAPE festival.

Hyphae are extremely fine filaments of fungus, often only a single cell thick, that collectively form complex networks called mycelium. Mycelium is a vital part of ecosystems and forms especially close relationships with plants. One of the most basic and important functions of mycelium is the decomposition of plant material, which creates nutritious soil necessary for future growth. But mycelium do so much more than recycle organic material. Subterranean mycelium forms symbiotic associations with plants called mycorrhiza. Arbuscular mycorrhiza penetrates the roots of a plant and greatly increases its efficiency in water and nutrient absorption. The relationships get even more complicated than that. Mycorrhizae operate as a primary immune response to the presence of microbial soil-borne pathogens, in other words protecting plant life from disease. Even more interesting is how mycorrhizal fungi network information from plant to plant within an ecosystem. The way mycorrhizal fungi network information is not unlike that of an animal's nervous system. For example, when a plant is attacked by aphids it releases chemicals that attract the insect's predators. When this chemical is released a signal is carried to neighbouring plants through a network of mycelium, and they start producing the same compound. Our understanding of this relationship is becoming increasingly more complex and points to dynamic interchanges of information between plants and fungi, across a network that is an ecosystem.
If we zoom back into the hypha, with an understanding of its role in mycorrhizae, this simple filament of fungus can be viewed as a symbol for healthy ecosystems. In 2019 and again in 2020 mass forest fires broke out across the Amazon, due to, in part, clear-cutting and increased volatility due to climate change. 2020 was a record-breaking wildfire season across the western United States. And on Vancouver Island, while I am writing this piece, land protectors, including the elders from the Pacheedaht and surrounding First Nations, have come to a head with the RCMP and logging companies, for blockading the clear-cutting of old-growth forests. In this time of horrific catastrophe, I write this piece as a song for hypha, a symbol of hope for the health of Earth's ecosystems, and for humanity to find ways to live in symbiotic association with the life around us.

Hypha for solo cello

With Swords

Neo-Noir

Generic Alien Love Song

Four Folk Songs is a set of pieces based upon four Hindu legends that I found to be intriguing for either their fascinating descriptions, or philosophical content. 

'The Mountain on a Finger' tells the story of a village of people who choose to follow the God Krishna, instead of Indra. Indra causes a rainstorm to flood the villagers, but Krishna saves the villagers by lifting the entire mountain on his finger, and uses it as an umbrella. 

'Two Frogs' tells the story of two frogs who fall into a vessel of milk. The one frog quickly gives up, but the other keeps swimming, until its legs turn the milk into butter and it escapes. 

'The Blind Men and the Elephant' tells the story of a group of blind men who touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one feels a different part, but only one part. They then compare notes and learn that they are in complete disagreement. 

'A Meeting with Death' tells the story of a father who offers his son up as sacrifice to the God of death (Yama). In Yama's kingdom, the boy asks for three wishes: that his father be pleased with him, that he goes to heaven, and that Yama tell him the secret of life and death.

Pianist: Sherry Du

Movement 1: The Mountain On A Finger

TV Theme // Nerd Nostalgia

Resonance | Texture | Pulsing

An exploration in textures and spectral timbres, the piece should be played freely and not bound by any sort of metric time structure. The concept of the piece is based around the mathematical object, known as a Mobius Strip. 

This is a shape with only one side and one boundary and has the mathematical property of being unorientable. The piece attempts to explore the strange symmetrical properties of the Mobius strip sonically, by exploring symetrical melodic figures, patterns, and larger sections of the piece.

Performed by: Anthony Thompson

Möbius Fragments

Performed by Rebecca Gary, soprano and Sara Constant, flute

scatterbrain

An examination of the increasing permeation of technology in all aspects of our lives. The piece is composed entirely out of manipulated recorded sounds by the cello and violin, combined with live performers. No synthesized sounds were used.

Violin: Ilana Waniuk
Cello: Amahl Arulanandam

Solid State

"Three Songs" (2018) for Hindustani Vocalist, Soprano and Sinfonietta  by Akshaya Avril Tucker. Live recording with Saili Oak, Suzanne Lis and the Prismatx Ensemble at the University of Texas Austin, Bates Recital Hall, on March 21, 2018.

To see the video! Here is the first song: https://youtu.be/3z-uS2Y6kY0
Here are the second and third songs: https://youtu.be/9YuF5r5WSD4

I. Saiyan: Fantasy on a song by Shobha Gurtu (00:00-09:10)
Lyrics: 
Saiyan nikas gaye mai na ladi thi
Na kachu boli na kachu chali
Sar ko jhukaye mai to chup ke khadi thi Rang mahal ke das darwaaje
Na jaane kaun si khidki khuli thi
Kahat Kamaali Kabir ki beti
Aise biyahi se to kuwari bhali thi
Kamaali (c.15th Century)

My love is leaving, but I do not resist
In stillness, without my notice, she slipped away.
My royal palace has ten doors
Who knows who opened that window, from which she flew...
As its beloved departs, the mortal body grieves, Said Kamaali, daughter of Kabir.
Transl. Saili Oak & Akshaya Avril Tucker

II. Geliebte Sakhi: Beloved Friend (09:11-22:45)
An earlier version of this song, for mezzo-soprano and sinfonietta, was commissioned by Density512, on the subject of “re-composing” Alma Mahler songs. Thus, the German text and some aspects of its setting comes from Alma Mahler’s Fünf Lieder. In juxtaposing the Heine text with a slow khyal composition in Raag Bageshree, I am creating one human character that sings in two voices. This is a meditative love song, but the lover or friend could be human, divine, abstract — even music itself.

Lyrics:
Ich wandle unter Blumen
Und blühe selber mit,
Ich wandle wie im Traume
Und schwanke bei jedem Schritt. O halt mich fest, Geliebte!
Vor Liebestrunkenheit
Fall' ich dir sonst zu Füßen Und der Garten ist voller Leut!
Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

I wander among the flowers, blooming, I wander as if in a dream,
swaying at every step.
Oh, hold me close to you!
Enraptured,
I fall at your feet
while the garden breathes the life of thousands!
Transl. Akshaya Avril Tucker

Eri sakhi tyaja maan
Dhara dhyaan, chhaand gumaan Tabhi pave gyaan
Pratamata dhara dhyaan, Sharana eka surajaan,
Pajhe saba miTat agyaan.
Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (b.1960)

My friend, let go of your arrogance Focus, be compassionate
Let your pride fall away
Surrender to each note
Then you will see that truth:
The artist is the divine servant of music
Transl. Saili Oak & Akshaya Avril Tucker

III. Tarana: Dance (22:45-29:45)
Tarana is based on abstract syllables (“de re na”, “ta na na”) and references two Tarana compositions by Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, in Raag Bhimpalas and Raag Desh. The soprano and Hindustani vocalist explore fast, frequently improvised runs, as well as lyrical lines, playing off one another.

Cover image, "Dancing on the Edge," courtesy of Kamini Avril, painter. (www.instagram.com/kaminiavril/)

Three Songs

Torturing Piano

Aphantasia — a non-functioning mind's eye.

Fanton Clerc - Violin

Ana Mora - Piano

Fantasia Aphantasia

Performed as part of the 2020 1:2:1 livestream concert

Composed by: Steven Webb

Performed by: Camilla Caldwell

Coded | De(c)oded

- 2020 -

Tibetan, ye tang che.

The ye part means “totally, completely,” and the rest of it means “exhausted.” Altogether, ye tang che means totally tired out. 
We might say “totally fed up.” It describes an experience of complete hopelessness, of completely giving up hope. This is an important point. This is the beginning of the beginning. 
Without giving up hope—that there’s somewhere better to be, that there’s someone better to be—we will never relax with where we are or who we are.

To think that we can finally get it all together is unrealistic. To seek for some lasting security is futile. 
To undo our very ancient and very stuck habitual patterns of mind requires that we begin to turn around some of our most basic assumptions. 
Believing in a solid, separate self, continuing to seek pleasure and avoid pain, thinking that someone “out there” is to blame for our pain—one has to get totally fed up with these ways of thinking. 
One has to give up hope that this way of thinking will bring us satisfaction. Suffering begins to dissolve when we can question the belief or the hope that there’s anywhere to hide. 

© 1997, Pema Chödrön
From: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Diffiicult Times
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston, 2005
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Music and text by Kristen Wachniak
Performed by Cam Denby (marimba) and Kristen Wachniak (vocals and electronics)
Produced by Selci

Written for and premiered live at Fresh Blood Project on October 31, 2019. The above track was recorded in late December and produced the following spring.

ye tang che

Contemporary Music Composer | Sound Designer

Movement 1: The Mountain On A Finger

Steven Webb

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