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For Saxophone Quintet (2025), duration: 8-9’

This work was first conceived at the beginning of January. I knew I wanted the piece to be a continuation or a ‘reply’ to a jazz standard of some sort. I settled on ‘They Can’t Take That Away from Me’ (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin), a striking piece to me because unlike many love songs of the American Songbook, the song seems to focus of the small, everyday aspects of love. I also found a lyric that was especially poignant – ‘We may never, never meet again.’ I don’t usually like writing overly sentimental music, but in this case, I believe this song is truly about acceptance. About the transience and everyday aspect of love. This piece was written for Tom Lowe, to be premiered at the 2025 World Saxophone Congress in Harbin, China. This work was premiered by Tom Lowe on the 7th of August 2025 at the 2025 World Saxophone Congress in Harbin, China.

For Clarinet, Cello and Piano (2025), duration: 7’

‘Aubade of a Broken Sky’ was written as a reaction to a similarly titled poem by Ocean Vuong – ‘Aubade of a Burning City’. I was struck not only by his evocation of the Vietnam War, but by the visceral, raw quality of his writing. He often places pleasure and pain side by side, blurring the lines between the two in an unbearable way. Similarly, the photography of Peter Hujar – specifically the queer-centered collection ‘Orgasmic Man’ – blurs a similar line. You are unsure whether the subjects of the work are in pleasure or in pain. Yet you know in both cases that through being a witness to the art, you’re trespassing on something intimate. My own work reacted to this – to how closely these innermost feelings sit to one another. This work was first performed on the 10th of October by Ensemble Liaison at the Athenaeum Club, winning the 2025 Athenaeum Club Composition Competition.

For Pierrot Sextet (2025), duration: 8’

The title of the work – ‘Invisible Wounds, Silent Healings’ had no direct meaning at first. A set of words that were somehow poignant and meaningful. The piece was then written responding to this title alone. After the work was finished, its meaning became clear. As we move through life, day-to-day it is easy to get caught up in ourselves and forget the struggles of others – both those immediately around us, in our community, and in the world. We all carry the invisible struggles and wounds of love, loss, and longing – feelings that often go unspoken and unseen. We battle these struggles in private, without the judgement of others. We are the only ones who can silently pull ourselves apart, and build ourselves back up once more– an invisible form of healing. The work starts defiantly, with a violence that quickly dissipates. It then moves from slow stasis to ambiguity and finally the clarity of ‘healing,’ ending without definite resolution. The ensemble is also particularly significant. Each instrument acts as both a solo voice and simultaneously a part of a larger voice.