Program note

Formations I is a single movement from a larger work for chamber ensemble, electronics, and electric guitar, titled an interlude between two nothings. Inspired by my interest in cosmology, the work as a whole juxtaposes rationality with the absurd as a personal reflection on my own creative process and, more broadly, the life cycle as a whole. Formations I is meant to evoke the emergence of elementary particles—the smallest structures that form the building blocks for all matter. The piece is divided into five broad sections, each featuring one of the five instruments in turn. Each section explores the idea of formation, beginning with a simple melody that develops and evolves into something more complex.