Program Notes

se\/er was composed in October of 2026 as a result of a collaboration between the IU Student Composers Association and the IU Fine Arts department. Four composers were selected to compose a piece of music based on one of the works in Kim Sajik's modern photography series, STORY. My work was inspired specifically by her 2022 work entitled, Dividing the Earth.

Sajik’s photo depicts a lone figure – a large, masked, shirtless man, hunching down to slice the earth cleanly with a large blade. Behind him, the sky is dark and smoky, and a spreading fire burns the emaciated grass. The figure has a malevolently powerful presence, and within the context of his surroundings, his mystery is amplified. There is an undeniable intensity to the scene but somehow, it simultaneously feels bleak and muted. The chaotic essence of the photo led me to compose a duo for alto saxophone and multi-percussion, utilizing free jazz as an informer of the musical language. The unapologetic sounds of Peter Brötzmann, John Zorn, Tyshawn Sorey, and Louis Moholo were remarkably influential to me during the composition of this work.

My initial drafts of the work were completed in a notation software, however, shortly into the process, I was advised by my professor, Dr. Texu Kim, to fully immerse myself in the customs of the music that influenced me. Instead of a traditional score, I was encouraged to sketch out the work in the form of a handwritten graphic score. In the score, musical gestures that I would normally notate using conventional Western notation are replaced with jagged squiggles and bizarre shapes. I wanted the music to feel as spontaneous as possible, while simultaneously providing enough instruction to achieve the general textures I desired. The score is meant to provide intuitive instructions for performers to deliver a tastefully cathartic performance, with lengthy gestures that vary from playfully conversational, to thin and brittle, to pure anarchistic violence. Creating a work like this was a departure from my typical compositional process, but it ended up being a remarkable creative experience.

Landing on a title for the work came easy to me for a few reasons. Regarding the typographic wordplay, the ‘v’ is capitalized so that the title can be read not just as ‘sever,’ but also ‘seer.’ The primary figure in the photo seems to exert a divine control over the scene. I tend to imagine him as a prophetic figure, thus, a seer. Moreover, the most immediate connection between my title and Sajik’s print would simply be what the figure is doing; severing the earth. On a more personal note, the creation of this work has been a necessary and gratifying severance from my typical compositional process. It was for these reasons, I knew the work must be entitled, se\/er.