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 motif can be developed. In an ironic turn of events during the composing process , I fell off of my bicycle on the way to class one day and ended up needing 10 stitches in my knee—an inspiring moment, indeed.

Special thank you to Adam, Eric, and Jason for the awesome performance on Dec. 8th, 2025. (‼️ Don't turn up your volume too high at the beginning—your patience will be rewarded!)

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 on the conversation, admiring the beauty of nature and lulling the listener in with imagery vivid to all five senses. This splendid beauty eventually meets a grotesque twist that reveals how deadly a charming mystique can be. I am so grateful and excited to write this piece for Karlo and Melody, who never fails to bring me joy and inspiration.

Written for and performed by Karlo Andrei Antalan 🎶 and Melody Choi 🎻 for their senior recitals on April 6th and 27th, 2025 at Taplin Auditorium in Princeton University.

Excerpt from The Sirens by James Russell Lowell

Here all is pleasant as a dream;
The wind scarce shaketh down the dew,
The green grass floweth like a stream
Into the ocean's blue;
Listen! Oh, listen!
Here is a gush of many streams,
A song of many birds,
And every wish and longing seems
Lulled to a numbered flow of words,
Listen! Oh, listen!
Here ever hum the golden bees
Underneath full-blossomed trees,
At once with glowing fruit and flowers crowned;—
So smooth the sand, the yellow sand,
That thy keel will not grate as it touches the land;
All around with a slumberous sound,
The singing waves slide up the strand,
And there, where the smooth, wet pebbles be
The waters gurgle longingly,
As if they fain would seek the shore,
To be at rest from the ceaseless roar,
To be at rest forevermore,—
Forevermore.
Thus, on Life's gloomy sea,
Heareth the marinere
Voices sweet, from far and near,
Ever singing in his ear,
"Here is rest and peace for thee!"

Sept. - Dec. 2024 (for narrator, clarinet, typewriter, violin, percussion, bass guitar, and piano)

In the fall of 2024, I took a class 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 (for instruments played by members of the class) with a narrator. Continuing my long-standing love for Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “EPICAC,” I adapted the text and and knew I wanted to include a typewriter as an instrument to bring the computer character to life. It was truly a fun process illustrating the heartbreaking love story between a super computer and mankind.

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 maturity; develop into an adult,” which suggests the glory of competence and autonomy. However, I recently learned the importance of maintaining our child-like-selves. As children, we indulge ourselves in fantastical worlds and pour time and heart into our limitless creativity. While we come to cement a clearer distinction between real existence and made-up wonder as we grow older, we must not let our understanding of reality become our belief of what is possible. Because the voices of our childhood may open doors we did not know existed.

Growing up does not mean that we must step out of our wonderland.

Written for the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival: recorded by Jusun Kim, Hannah Chaewon-Kim, Misha Amory, Nagyeom Jang, and Gloria Chien, with Grammy-Award-winning producer Alan Bise on Aug. 21, 2024.

Painting by Satoko Kitagawa

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 to live each moment to its fullest.

Commissioned by Composers Unveiled.
Premiered by ChamberQueer in collaboration with Luna Lab on Nov. 3rd, 2025, @National Sawdust.

illustrated by Yuri Lee

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 cancer. Since then, I wrote this piece with him in mind. A piece with moments of uncertainty and lack of direction that always returns to the tango sound. Tango music will always be with you, in any shape.

Commissioned and premiered by Princeton University’s OPUS, performed with Allison Jiang (‘26) and Miriam Waldvogel (‘26) on May 2nd, 2024.

Illustrated by Satoko Kitagawa

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.

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NEW: Orchestra Version!

Commissioned by The Little Orchestra Society for their show, Treblemaker’s History of Music (Sept. 30 & Oct. 1st, 2023).

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 verwandelt.
”

— As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

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

illustrated by Nicole Balsirow

Jan. 2023 (for flute, violin, cello, and piano)

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 they sail deeper and deeper into the sirens’ nest.

Extended techniques such as the seagull effect on cello and scraping the fronts of the white keys on piano were used to illustrate a lively ship and its crew on a voyage.

World premiere by the Nu Deco Ensemble at National YoungArts Week 2023.

YoungArts Week 2023

illustrated by Satoko Kitagawa

Feb. 2022 (for clarinet, violin, and piano)

Inspired by Edith Wharton’s novella Ethan Frome, this piece explores the theme of inverted fairytale. The bright, playful beginning reflects the somewhat untroubled life of the Frome household and the light-hearted interactions between Ethan and Mattie. But Zeena’s jealousy of her husband and cousin’s budding romance begins a chain reaction of events that eventually leads to a dangerous sleigh ride aimed at a big oak tree, leaving Ethan crippled, Mattie paralyzed, and Zeena even more miserable than before. 

And they lived not-so-happily ever after.

Premiered @ Juilliard Pre-College Chamber Music on May 7, 2022, with Gabriel Paley (clarinet), Yuri Lee (violin), and Andrew Gu (piano).

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

A revised version performed for my senior recital on April 22nd, 2023.