Mind Over (Particulate) Matter
ensemble 2.2.2.2, 4.3.3.1, timp+3, harp, piano, strings
written spring 2019
duration 10 minutes
performed Aug. 31, 2019, Harbin Symphony Hall, by Eric Zhu and the Harbin Symphony Orchestra
3rd place winner of the 2nd International Competition of Harbin
Finalist in the 2019 Zemlinsky Prize
Finalist with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra’s 6th Season
Honorable Mention in the 2019 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute
Particulate matter is defined by the EPA as a potentially hazardous mixture of solid and liquid particles in the air. Growing up in an increasingly polluted metropolitan center, I found myself drawn to this image of a million airborne atomies whirling past each other, unseen yet harmful. They seemed a perfect metaphor for the chaotic soup of thoughts, reminders, distractions, and non sequiturs that flitted through my mind day in and day out. This perpetual state of mental white noise gradually became the norm as I began to learn how to focus on the tasks appointed me.
Mind Over (Particulate) Matter is about this search for focus in a world of mental particulate matter.