Music

I often find that when one is personally hurt, whether physically or mentally, the process of healing is commonly kept as a private manner. These wounds we keep for ourselves can often hinder our abilities and well-being, becoming symbols of misfortune or failure that fly around in our subconscious. We fall hard and often we can never get quite back up, yet there is something about being here at the bottom with all the other fallen souls that gives me a strange sense of connection.  

I am not the only one who deals with hurt in secrecy, in fact I would guess that many of the people I pass daily on the bus, on the hallway, on the street, my friends and family, they all suffer these strikes of pained misery alongside a yearning for something better that forces them to reconcile with the absurdity of life and the indifference of the world upon their Little Secret Wounds.

How amazing is it that so many of us, without sharing a word, go through this very experience? That so many of us insist on keeping on despite losing some part of ourselves to misfortune or mere chance? I think that this fact itself, the common experience of never quite getting over harm or loss and still choosing your life, brings me comfort. perhaps we never truly get over these things but rather learn to live with their absence as best as we can.

^{Premiered March 30th, 2026, by The FSU harp quartet in Tallahassee, FL.}

Performed by:
_{Isabelle Scott – harp 1
Margaret Anne Altage – harp 2
Amber Harris – harp 3
Noël Wan – harp 4}

^{Recorded live at the premiere}

Pabellón Criollo, commissioned by The Almond Trio, is inspired by the traditional Venezuelan meal of the same name. The meal consists of 4 distinct parts: shredded beef, black beans, white rice and fried plantains. When served together on a plate, due to its assortment of colors, the food sort of looks like a pabellón (flag) giving it the name.

The piece consists of a set of 4 miniatures, with each representing a part of the meal and also a different folkloric Venezuelan musical dance style. These consist of the following: Joropo, Merengue, Vals and Gaita. 

The structure, harmonies and melodic tendencies common of each style are recreated, adapted and transformed for this instrumentation with the goal of creating something unique for the setting while still bringing forth that distinctly Venezuelan musical color.

^{Premiered March 30th, 2026, by The Almond Trio in Tallahassee, FL.}

Performed by The Almond Trio:
_{Daniel Gonzales – Bb clarinet
Param Mehta – cello
Dylan Rhodes – piano}

^{Recorded live at the premiere}

During my 2023 spring semester at Florida State University I would participate in a multitude of courses, and while at first everything was quite manageable, as the semester went along and as multiple things piled up there was a climax of overwhelming responsibility, leaving little room to do the things I wanted to do in my own life. It was during this peak that when a friend or contemporary asked about my well-being I would say “I’m fine, just kinda waiting For The Day To End”. I would internalize this idea, this flow of mindlessly getting through a list of tasks every day for the sake of maintaining the opportunities for which I was actually present for. It was miserable.

Sometimes we make our own tunnels, and we don’t always have the ability to get to the light at the other side. It’s easy to feel alone in this, buried over the complexities of life, but it is in those moments where we need to support one another, because that’s all we really have. I was lucky to have such friends and family who could help me, and it was through them that I was able to once again move forward and find a renewed value in the day to day. This quartet explores this personal journey, the innermost emotions which brew up during this neglect of personal care and the revitalized appreciation for life. 

Even if today wasn’t the best, there is always value to be found in it.

^{Premiered November 2nd, 2023 in Tallahassee, FL.}

Performed by:
<sup>Jesse Rigsby – Eb clarinet
Ethan Burke – Bb clarinet 1
Jariel Santiago – Bb clarinet 2
Morgan Magnoni – bass clarinet

Recorded live at the premiere</sup>

Byzantium was conceived as a commission from a dear close friend and Saxophonist of mine out of his fascination with the Byzantine Empire’s rich history, culture, and worldwide influence.

The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire and its provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the year 5 AD and existed all the way until the Fall of Constantinople under the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the year 1453 AD (Wikipedia contributors, 2022).

^{Premiered May 18th, 2022 in Weston, FL.}

Performed by The Almond Trio:
_{Tyler Welch – Soprano Sax
Gabriel Ortiz – Alto Sax
Casey Caulkins – Tenor Sax
Brianne Yates – Baritone Saxophone}

^{Recorded live February 28th, 2023 at Lindsay Recital Hall in FSU, Tallahassee, FL.}

Otros Lugares was commissioned by Jordan Perkins and Michael Deresz as part of an initiative to expand the small Bassoon & French Horn Duet repertoire.

The piece was written during a time of personal yearning to be somewhere I was supposed to be but couldn’t due to circumstances beyond my control. The piece acts as three short daydreams of other places (Otros Lugares) I missed being part of while writing.

^{Premiered March 8th, 2026 by Jordan Perkins & Michael Deresz at the Southeast Horn Workshop in Knoxville, TN.}

Performed by:
_{Michael Deresz – bassoon
Jordan Perkins – french horn}

^{Recorded live on March 14th, 2026 at the Midsouth Horn Workshop in Nacogdoches, TX.}

Part of a bigger project, Navy Blue is but one piece in a collection of songs aimed to depict a variety of colors. They are all made with the intention of making music out of what emotions, ideas or settings they might invoke.

Navy Blue was written quite naturally and I think it achieves a meaningful translation of what this color represents to me. I believe that other people can find their own meaning in this song out of the simple idea of what it is based on.

^{Premiered February 16th, 2024 by Vallentina Skye in Tallahassee, FL.}

Performed by:
_{Vallentina Skye}

^{Recorded live on April 20th, 2024 in Tallahassee, FL.}

Me and Myself started as somewhat of an assignment from my instructor Ms. Ky Nam Nguyen when she asked me to compose a piece for a single instrument. 

Confronted by something I haven’t done much of, I would shortly get the idea to spin the assignment on its head and try to make a solo which gives the impression of a duet. As Such Me and Myself aims to depict the presence of two players through the abilities of one by an extended usage of a Slap/Pizzicato tonguing technique on the flute. I would later find meaning in the piece and its idea as a representation of how sometimes, less is more.

Performed by:
<sup>Crisha Joyner

Recorded live on October 21st 2022 at Longmire Recital Hall in FSU, Tallahassee, FL.</sup>