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This was a piece written for a quartet in the Berklee School of Music. The conception of the idea for this piece stemmed from a interest in more avaunt garde forms. It was also inspired by a short story by the author Jorge Luis Borges, The Secret Miracle. I wanted to explore the idea of having the musicians tell the story as they played the music.

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The major inspiration of this piece was Irish and Scottish folk songs. I also wanted to include some references to Ravel, and his Spanish influences. Originally I had intended this to be written for Accordion and Guitar, as I thought the guitar would add a more Folk-ish element, but as the melody developed, I found the accordion to be too overbearing and dominating the soundscape. Perhaps if I revisit this idea, another version could be made with the original instrumentation.

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This was a piece I wrote as part of the Berklee Composition Intensive. I wanted to experiment with early Serialist composition, in the style of Berg. I also took heavy influence from the work of Shostakovich and Lutoslawski. You may notice in particular certain segments of this piece directly quote the two composers mentioned.

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For this piece I explored minimalism, specifically Philip Glass. I especially took influence from his piece Metamorphosis 1. I would say that this piece was much more of an experiment, and it was not entirely successful, you may notice in particular the ending feels slightly unresolved. This was also partly due to a particularly tight deadline. Although overall, I am generally happy with the outcome of the piece.

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During the time I was writing this piece, I had been submerged in atonality, and wanted to escape to a simpler art form. In particular I recall Madrigal composers being an influence. Verdelot and Ockgenhem were two major influences.

This was a presentation I gave on the reception by the wider public of Atonal and expressionistic music. In particular I focused on Gyorgy Ligeti’s piece the Kammerconzert, or Cello Concerto, as I thought it illustrated some of the techniques that were most prevalent in expressionistic music of that period. I hope by watching this you will gain some wider insight into the true beauty of this under-appreciated art form.

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This piece was inspired by the Waltzes of Chopin, but is also informed by other Romantic era composers. The name was taken from a poem by William Wordsworth, and describes his transformation from the time he spent in the French Revolution to becoming disillusioned with Ideology, and retreating to his cottage in the Lake District. That was the atmosphere I had attempted to create.

Inspired by the song ‘Mortal Man’ off of Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ this song seeks to replicate the intricacies and details of the production of a pop or hip hop track. Originally I had intended to include spoken word over the entirety of the song but this choice seemed to be too invasive to the composition of the song.

My main influences were drawn from films that depict the sprawling chaos of urban life and how those environments reflect the characters within their stories; Taxi Driver, Manhattan, Marriage Story. Musically I drew heavy inspiration from late period Beatles songs such as A Day in the Life or Strawberry Fields. A day in the life in particular is where I took the idea for the music video.