Music
Rare Bird Mating Dance
for Flutes, Hardanger d’Amore, and Percussion
Duration: 5.5’
Recorded December 21st, 2025 at Sandbox Percussion Studio in Brooklyn, NY
Samantha Kochis, flutes
Ledah Finck, hardanger d'amore
Katherine Fortunato, percussion
Rare Bird Mating Dance (2025) is an expression of courtship in its raw form—the dance of flirtation as it manifests in the wild. It is messy, unpredictable, intensely personal. At times, it can be awkward, angsty, and frenetic. At other points, a clear drive takes hold. Is the dance successful? We must attempt it to find out…
Controlled Burn
for String Quartet
Duration: 8’
Performed November 5th, 2025 by the Orange Road Quartet at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, NYC
Miguel Calleja, violin
Lauren Conroy, violin
Nicky Moore, viola
Jordan Bartow, cello
Controlled Burn (2023) was inspired by the Fire and Music Project, an organization in Northern California that seeks to "empower musicians, composers, and artists through immersive learning to develop their relationship with fire."
you see me see you
for Violin, Synthesizer, Voice, and Electronics
Duration: 5’
Recorded October 28th, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY
Justine Leichtling, violin/voice
Alex Barsom, synthesizer/voice
you see me see you (2024) directly engages with the psychological concept of “mirroring,” in which a parent reflects a child’s self-expression back to them, communicating to the child that they are seen. I made this arrangement for Halva Duo, a project I share with my friend and fellow composer Alex Barsom. Throughout our collaboration and friendship, our shared music-making deepens, not surprisingly, as we come to see each other ever more clearly. This piece exists to honor such an experience—between collaborators, friends, parent and child, or any two people who genuinely care about each other.
Many thanks to Alex for helping design the electronics and editing this recording!
Earthbnb
for Bass Clarinet and Electronics
Duration: 2’
Recorded September 30th, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY
Kai Hirayama, bass clarinet
A combination of field recordings, synthesized sounds, and other processed samples makes up the electronic track to Earthbnb (2025). We are only here for a short time. It is up to us to make the most of it.
It’s Not Your Fault
for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano
Duration: 7’
Premiered August 14th, 2025 by the Unheard-of Ensemble at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX
Ford Fourqurean, clarinet
Matheus Souza, violin
Iva Casian-Lakoš, cello
Daniel Anastasio, piano
Children blame themselves when bad things happen. Yet under the weight of that guilt, the innocent child survives, waiting to be seen. Inspired by Kiki Smith’s sculpture Woman and Sheep (2009), It’s Not Your Fault (2025) is an acknowledgment, a resuscitation, and ode to this child.
Etude for the Weary
for Violin, Cello, and Synthesizer
Duration: 14’
Premiered December 13th, 2024 at Mannes School of Music, NYC
Justine Leichtling, violin
Ceridwen McCooey, cello
Alex Barsom, synthesizer
While Etude for the Weary (2024) began as an ear training exercise, it soon became a canvas to explore and enjoy the different aesthetic qualities of justly tuned intervals. The synthesizer was added to enrich the timbral spectrum, and toward the end of the piece, it renders the original chords on which the pitch pathways in the violin and cello lines are based. The different software instruments and effects were designed in collaboration with Alex Barsom, to whom I am eternally grateful for helping bring my sonic vision to life.
Play/thing
for String Quartet and Toys
Duration: 7’
Premiered August 22nd, 2024 by The Rhythm Method Quartet at the Lake George Music Festival
Marina Kifferstein, violin
Leah Asher, violin
Martine Kinsella Thomas, viola
Iva Casian-Lakoš, cello
What happens when a child’s capacity to play gets interrupted? So many things impinge upon the potential creative space we all need in order to express ourselves and, through the process, learn who we are as people. As an adult, I realized how my early play had been commodified when others treated that burgeoning creativity as a feather in their own cap rather than the free, independent exploration of a child. Play/thing (2024) mourns the misuse of creativity leading to its disruption yet engages the possibility of regaining lost playfulness to rediscover one’s true self.