EPICAC

April 2023 (for cello and accordion)

I was moved to write this piece after reading “EPICAC”, the heart-wrenchingly beautiful short story by Kurt Vonnegut that features the fictional EPICAC computer, the largest and smartest on Earth built to solve hefty world issues. Through his interactions with the unnamed narrator, who wants to woo his sweetheart Pat into marriage, EPICAC learns to love and becomes infatuated with Pat himself.  

With the cello as the narrator’s voice and the accordion as EPICAC, this piece illustrates the unusual friendship of man and machine and its haunting ending.

Premiered at the Juilliard Pre-College Composition Senior Recital on April 22nd, 2023.