April - July 2026 (for clarinet, violin, and piano)Written for and premiered by Graeme Steele Johnson, Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, and Henry Kramer on July 5th, 2026 at Emerging Composers Intensive.Inspired by Dickinson’s brief poem, this piece reflects my frequent meditation on the brevity of human life and the fragility of time. What begins as jagged, anxious, and fragmented—as though relentlessly…

Oct. - Nov. 2025 (for bicycle and percussion) Written for Sō Percussion in Steve Mackey’s Advanced Composition class, this piece is a sonic illustration of my college life at Princeton. The rhythmic motif introduced by the kick drum (“1, 2, 1-2-3”) is a common rhythm found in the Deaf community’s artistic practice called “percussion song,” this piece explores the many avenues through which that…

Jan. 2025 (for countertenor, violin, and piano)I was intrigued by the flowing and dreamy quality of James Russell Lowell’s poem “The Sirens” and decided to set an excerpt from it to music. The wave-like obstinato of the piano sets the scene of tranquil water as the violin chimes in with sometimes alluring and vocal, and other times bird-like chirping lines above it. And the countertenor joins in…

Sept. - Dec. 2024 (for narrator, clarinet, typewriter, violin, percussion, bass guitar, and piano)In the fall of 2024, I took a class called Opera without the Singing: Fables, Fairy Tales and Narrated Musical Theater, co-taught by Steve Mackey and guest professor and author, Adam Gidwitz. Directly inspired by Prof. Mackey’s recent piece, Memoir (2024), we were tasked with writing a chamber piece…

June-July 2024 (for piano quintet)Some Christmases ago, I asked Santa for Toothless the Dragon (from DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon”). Unfortuantely, my serious request went unanswered. As years passed, my disappointment became indifference—amusement at myself, even.The concept of growing up mostly elicits a positive connotation; a google search defines it as to “advance to…

May 2024 (for piano trio)To hold onto a perfect life is a mistake, as the act of holding on is an active rejection of growth, and perfection itself is an illusion. Through this piece, I sought to construct a state of ordinary peace, only to shatter it with heightened hysteria. This representation of degradation is not a nihilistic statement, but rather an encouragement to take risks in life and…

Jan. - March 2024 (for 2 violins and piano)The original spark came during the tap-dancing-eggs sequence from the musical “Something Rotten!”, the spark of which was an image of two soft-boiled eggs trying to dance a tango together.Soon after, I received news that an important musical figure in my life, a phenomenal bandoneon player who thought me the art of tango music, has recently been fighting…

July 2023 (for alto saxophone and string quartet)With a feeling of anticipation, joy and flight, this is my piece to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter in life.Commissioned by Caden Helmer and premiered at the NYO2 Chamber Music Extravaganza concert on July 13th, 2023 by Caden Helmer, Vivian Chang, Cadence Shevy, Isabelle Son, and Caleb Graupera. NEW: Orchestra Version!Commissioned by The…

Nov. 2022 - April 2023 (for four-hand piano)Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis reimagined. Instead of spending the remaining days of his life suffering and caged in the mockery of what his life used to be as a human, what if Gregor jumped out of the window and flew away?“Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer…

Jan. 2023 (for chamber ensemble) The second chapter of Avast, Ye! begins as the pirate captain and the crew set sail again after a successful treasure hunt. Soon, the celestial singing of maidens drift towards them in the salty air, calling and beckoning. Peculiar, that maidens would be found amidst the untamed waves of the sea. But the pirates are given no room for even a seed of suspicion, as…