In the Fall of 2022, students in the Technology and Applied Composition program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music were given the assignment to create a professional demo for a fictitious video game entitled Polarity. Composers were instructed to write a theme based on five emotional pillars in the game's story, in which the main character, Aria, survives and explores the frigid and perilous surface of Mars.

The album was recorded live in Studio G of the Bowes Center at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Composers were present at the session, working with producers and engineers from Sony Interactive Entertainment of America.

This project was made possible thanks to generous support from Sam Marshall, Matt Levine, Daria Novoliantceva, Marco D'Ambrosio, Chuck Doud, Scott Hanau, Marc Senasac, Scott Bergstrom, Anthony Caruso, Taurin Barrera, and Molly Monahan.

Special thanks to student producers 009 Night '23, Udit Srivathsan '25, Jiahui Li '23, Sam Nedel '23, Ian Rictor '24, Chanho Han '24, Declan McLeish '23, and Cullen Luper '25, as well as student conductors Natasha Frank '23 and Declan McLeish '23. Mixed by Udit Srivathsan '25 and Cullen Luper '25 in the TAC Studios at SFCM.

A tremendous thanks to all of the outstanding musicians who contributed to this project: Nicollie Souza, Taylor Barlow, Alexei Wade, Michelle Sung, Seth Shumate, Sophia Chen, Wentao Jiang, Kody Dunford, Aleksi Zaretsky, Clara Schubilske, Paisley Kim, and Daniela Gonzales-Siu

Clear Winds - Cullen Luper

Closer - Shinae Lee

SOS - Shaun Goh

Broken Breath - Pyam Pendleton

Impossible Mission - Ming Yuan

LDR - Lauryn Kurniawan

Toward Centauri - Frank He

Closer - Lilly Conley

Liftoff - Joshua Dix

Soul Of Maia - Sam Chalmers

An undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate degree program offering an unparalleled foundation for success in the diverse and evolving music industry. "Forging a new identity for the 21st-century composer" — New York Times www.sfcm.edu/tac

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