UC San Diego

The three pieces in this Master's thesis represent most of my work over the last two years at UCSD. To unnamed things, a trio for soprano, double bass and percussion, was completed in December 2009 for the first-quarter jury and is my first work for the voice. I explore ways in which the voice can both blend and stand apart from the timbres of the other two instruments. Stills; edges. Five small pieces and some number of interludes and moments, completed in August 2010 for the second jury, is scored for a mixed septet. The work uses a fragmented structure —with distinct edges (silences) between sections—to create an experience made whole by motives, timbres, gestures, and sound structures. The materials recur in widely varied forms, at times completely unchanged and at other times only loosely connected to past moments. Solo for Alto Flute, completed in December of 2010 and revised in May 2011, was premiered at UCSD by Carla Rees of the UK. It is written for microtonal alto flute and makes extensive use of the flutist's voice as a contrapuntal line. Structurally, the use of multiple distinct gestures reflects the same interest in stark juxtapositions as seen in Stills; edges, but the dissimilar materials are blended through the gradual transformation of the motivic and gestural language. These pieces reflect my ongoing interest in the boundaries between distinct musical ideas, especially the processes through which unrelated things can be made similar or intrinsic connections can be gradually uncovered.