Relativism, Perspectivism, and Environmentalism
My creative interests explore intersections between relativism, perspectivism, and environmentalism in music. I am particularly interested in how variations or changes in our perceptive experience affect out understanding of musical meaning and identity. My compositions often explore these ideas through the implementation of various dualities (such as sound vs. silence, and musical memory or what I call “association” vs. differentiation, and more). I am always looking for new creative ways to challenge the understanding of our environments and surroundings.
My dissertation research focuses on music inspired by climate change and environmentalism. Specific topics include the sonification of data in music composition, light pollution, noise pollution, and the shrinking of the Great Salt Lake. Perspectivism plays a significant role in my compositional research, as I study the ways in which meanings found in our natural environment shift depending on the lens through which they are viewed (be it in an urban environment, or in the sounds of nature).
My short story on noise pollution was featured in the Fall 2021 edition of the Wasatch Magazine:
The Dangers of Noise Pollution in Our Modern World
Russian Composers of the 20th Century
As a music theorist, my research stems from my interest in Slavic and Russian composers of the 20th century, namely those such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke, and Sofia Gubaidulina. I have written several papers on these composers, and my masters thesis (published 2018) includes an analysis of Alfred Schnittke’s polystylism in his third string quartet (1983). My music is often influenced by the dark harmonic and motivic languages of these composers.
Some of my other interests include:
Sibelius and Finnish Nationalism
Music of Witold Lutoslawski
Music of Charles Ives
Arvo Part’s concept of “Tinntinnabuli”
Ontology of the Musical Artwork, Music and Philosophy