• 2222, 4221, timpani+2, optional harp, strings

• Duration: 10 minutes

• Consortium Commission led by Chaowen Ting, Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra

• Available for consortium members in 2027; available for the public starting January 1, 2029

• Program notes:

Sugar Rush is a 10-minute wild orchestral thrill ride capturing the irresistible highs, explosive energy, and sudden, dizzying crashes of youthful sugar-fueled euphoria. Through vibrant rhythms, vivid orchestration, and unexpected musical twists, the piece invites orchestras and audiences alike into an electrifying experience—one that's both playfully sweet and chaotically exhilarating.

• 3232, 4331, timpani+3, piano, strings

• Duration: 9 minutes

• Consortium Commission led by Matthew Aubin, Jackson Symphony Orchestra

• Available for consortium members in 2026-27 Season; available for the public starting July 1, 2028

• Program notes:

In This Breath is the first piece I was able to write after losing my partner in January 2024. For months, I could not compose at all; grief had emptied out the part of me that makes music possible. This piece became the place where I finally allowed myself to breathe again, and in doing so, I began to find my way back to music and to myself.

The music is lyrical and unabashedly romantic—shaped by a love I didn’t want to let go of, and by the ache of learning how to live in its absence. It moves through tenderness, longing, and the quiet devastation of not wanting a story to end. In many ways, the piece is a love letter: to what was, to what remains, and to the parts of love that continue even after loss rearranges everything.

The orchestral version gives this emotional landscape a more colorful, expansive canvas. The fuller palette allows the piece to bloom into something larger than grief alone—something that reflects both the depth of what I lost and the strength I rediscovered through creating again.

• 3222, 4331, timpani+3, celesta, strings

• Duration: 3.5 minutes

• Commissioned by the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra; Kevin Sütterlin, director

• Available for the public starting April 1, 2027

• Program notes:

    a little ridiculous is a three-minute orchestral opener that embraces the joy of the unexpected, filled with playful gestures, sudden turns, and moments of musical mischief. The piece is built on a single chord progression that grows over its course: first presented as four chords, then expanded to eight, and finally to sixteen, so that the harmony becomes ever richer and more densely layered. The opening minute introduces the four-chord version and closes with a brief glimpse of the eight-chord version to come. This gives way to a driving minimalist ostinato that steadily gathers momentum against contrasting layers of high and low percussion. In the final minute, the brass take the lead and propel the orchestra into a relentless accelerando that refuses to slow down, carrying the music, with a wink, to the point of being just a little ridiculous.

• For a group of six flex soloists and orchestra (2222, 4221, timpani+3, strings)

• Duration: 20 minutes

• Consortium Commission led by Francesco Lecce-Chong for Santa Rosa Symphony

• Available for consortium members in 2025-27 seasons; available for the public starting July 1, 2027

• Program notes:

Coping Cadences takes its inspiration from the dark comedy series Beef. In the show, two strangers cross paths in a road-rage incident, and what should have been a forgettable moment spirals into an obsession that takes over both of their lives. Underneath the chaos, the story is really about how differently people cope with anger, loneliness, and pressure. Some of us lash out. Some of us live double lives. Some of us bottle everything up, chase something we can never quite reach, or hold on to a fragile balance. And sometimes, after all of it, we find our way to each other.

Each of these ways of coping suggested a musical style to me, and they became the six movements of the piece: contemporary, romantic, jazz/blues, minimalist, classical, and fusion. Writing across genres has always been central to my voice. Here, that eclecticism becomes the subject itself, with different musical languages standing in for different ways of being human.

The form comes from the Baroque concerto grosso, in which a small group of soloists (the concertino) plays with and against the full orchestra. What draws me to this form is the many relationships it makes possible. The six soloists can act as a chamber ensemble of their own, or any one of them can break away to speak alone. They can pair off, compete, or join forces as a group against the orchestra, and the orchestra can answer them, challenge them, or draw them back into its sound. These shifting alliances felt like a natural way to tell a story about conflict, isolation, and connection, and they let me celebrate the orchestra’s own principal players as the protagonists.

Coping Cadences was commissioned by the Santa Rosa Symphony and its Artistic and Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong, who premiered it in March 2026, with a consortium of orchestras including the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Washington-Idaho Symphony.

• 3232, 4331, timpani+3, harp, strings

• Duration: 6 minutes

• Commissioned by San Francisco Symphony (supported by the Ralph I. Dorfman Commissioning Fund)

• World premiere scheduled by San Francisco Symphony on February 8, 2025

• Available for performances (please contact Summers Artist Services for rentals)

• Program notes:

The Phoenix Ascends draws inspiration from the timeless myth of the phoenix, a universal symbol of rebirth, transformation, and renewal. Through its journey from ashes to majestic ascension, the phoenix embodies themes of resilience and regeneration that resonate deeply across cultures.

The composition begins with a majestic opening, depicting the phoenix awakening amid the beauty of dawn. It leads to a dreamlike, tonal atmosphere, where lush harmonies flow seamlessly between strings, woodwinds, and percussion, evoking the joy of flight before transformation. This gives way to an energetic section driven by rhythmic vitality and pulsing percussion, reminiscent of fiery trials and the phoenix’s passage through adversity. The music builds to a climactic moment of dazzling brilliance, as rapid, high-register gestures in the upper strings, woodwinds, and shimmering percussion create the sensation of radiant light. The piece concludes with a majestic final gesture, as the brass choir, trombone glissandi and resonant chords symbolize the phoenix’s triumphant ascension and ultimate renewal.

• For orchestral brass (4331) and percussion (timpani+2)

• Duration: 1 minute

• Commissioned by University of Missouri-St. Louis Fanfare Commissioning Project

• Available in February 2024 for consortium members

• Program notes:

In Memory of Glen Adsit (1964-2024). This fanfare is a tribute to the late Glen Adsit, reflecting the complex emotions of grief and resilience. It begins with intense, weeping-like gestures, capturing the initial despair of loss. As the piece progresses, it transforms, embodying the gradual discovery of strength and light amidst the darkness. This fanfare honors Glen's enduring legacy and the journey from sorrow to hope.

• 2222, 4221, timpani+2 perc, strings

• 2222, 2220, timpani+2 perc, strings

• Duration: 8 minutes

• Commissioned by a consortium of orchestras led by the Hartt Orchestra, Edward Cumming, director

• Available in January 2023 for consortium members with two-year exclusivity; available for the public starting January 1, 2025

• Program notes:

Purple Mountains is an orchestral overture filled with dramatic contrast, graceful melodies, and energetic rhythms. Musical ideas are drawn from the opera, When the Purple Mountains Burn, which explores the connection between Iris Chang and Shiro Azuma and the Nanking Massacre in China during World War II. Just like how the opera asks the question — what is it in us humans that could unleash the catastrophic power for one part of humanity to massacre and defile another part of humanity — The orchestral overture will depict the heavy subject in an abstract and absolute musical way: the fast whirlwind of panic and destruction, melancholy melody with dark and heavy harmonies, and uprising waves and textures that hijack the piece into a thought-provoking ending. For more information and musical ideas from the opera, please visit scene 10-11 and 14-15.

• 2222, 4221, timpani+2 perc, piano, strings

• Duration: 7 minutes

• Written for Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra

• Program notes:

The Last Hive Mind was written for conductor Glen Adsit and the Foot in the Door Ensemble at the Hartt School. Inspired by the British TV series, Black Mirror, and the general idea of recent increasing debate around artificial intelligence and how it will affect our daily lives as human beings. I put some of my thoughts, perspectives, and imagination into this work. Thanks to Glen for coming up with the dynamic and matching title — it also helped in the shaping of how musical narrative navigates its way throughout.

Mainly, I was struck by the idea in one episode of "Black Mirror," the "Metalhead." After the unexplained collapse of human society, a group of people tried to flee from the robotic "dogs," a vast hive mind with metal built bodies and powerful computerized "brains." The failure was almost predictable. However, a detail that struck me the most was the reason that these human beings got trapped in the crazy chase was because of their effort of searching a comforting gift for a very sick child — a fluffy teddy bear. In The Last Hive Mind, two forces fight with each other — the robotic, rhythmic, seemingly unbreakable "hive mind" music, versus the dreamy, melodic, and warm "lullaby" tune. Lastly, presented by the piano, the "lullaby" music is also a quote from my mini piano concerto, Canton Snowstorm. As the title indicates, this work depicts the struggle between the artificial intelligence, or the hive mind, and the dimming humanity; furthermore, the work implies the final collapse and breakdown of the last hive mind followed by its triumph.

• For chamber orchestra (1121, 1110, 2 perc, piano, strings)

• Duration: 8 minutes

• Commissioned by the International Mizzou Composer's Festival for Alarm Will Sound Ensemble

• Program notes:

Sweeping and Weeping was written in April 2020, when the pandemic hit and everything was canceled, postponed, or shut down. In an effort to find something positive, I initially thought of "sweeping" as a representation of the virus storm that took over our lives in the most unexpected ways. "Weeping" represents my reaction to the devastating loss that so many experienced. Like most of my pieces, Sweeping and Weeping began from these initial impressions, but the music itself navigated a way out with its own logic. The work explores rhythmic drive, lyrical tension, and release, with different timbres and colors. The music alternates between fast and slow passages that ultimately mingle into one.

• For string orchestra

• Duration: 16 minutes (without narration); 20 minutes (with narration)

• Adapted from string quartet version for Boston Modern Orchestra Project

• Narration text by Joshua Anderson

• Program notes:

Miss Ying-Ning was commissioned by the Composers Guild of New Jersey for the Argus Quartet’s 2019-20 Season. It draws inspiration from a story in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, a collection of Chinese folk tales by Qing dynasty scholar Pu Songling. In seven movements, the music depicts the plotline of how the man and the half-fox girl meet, fall in love, get married, and fight for justice together.

Miss Ying-Ning can be played with or without narration; the text can be narrated by any performer or performers, or a narrator.

Thanks to the Argus Quartet, who came up with the brilliant idea as well as the text that is added in between movements, and to my friend, clarinetist Dr. Joshua Anderson, who helped refine the text with delicate retention of the originality of the story, as well as a fine touch of the lyrical artistry.

• 1111, 1000, timpani, celesta, strings

• Duration: 12 minutes

• Commissioned and premiered by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

• Program notes:

Since the time of Brahms, there has been a tradition among certain composers to write lullabies for young children, which I unavoidably did for my baby son Leo, during my recent pregnancy before he was born. Imagining sweet happiness, warm emotions and love at first sight, I weaved these fanciful thoughts into a lullaby. The first week of being a new mother was absolute bliss. What I did not anticipate were the dark emotions, which developed rapidly after Leo was born. Suddenly, tears overcame me for no reason and feelings of mourning, anxiety and loss suddenly appeared without warning.

After childbirth, according to the American Pregnancy Association, around 80 percent of women experience various postpartum mood swings often referred to as “baby blues.” Fortunately, these “blues” usually go away within two to three weeks. Gradually, my tears dried out and I started being able to trust the joy of being a new mother.

While the depression lasted for a short time (compared to the 40-week pregnancy, or to the longer process of raising a child), the experience was so profound that I felt compelled to compose a work about it. The music I have composed suggests the extreme bliss of childbirth, the melancholy and struggling thereafter and the mysterious transformative process which leads to final resolution and peace.

• 2222, 4331, timpani+3, harp, strings

• Duration: 10 minutes

• Premiered by New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; JoAnn Felleta, conductor

• Program notes:

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night was inspired by Dylan Thomas’ poem. However, the music itself was more independently developed. There are two themes -- one is introduced in a vague and hidden way and being suppressed until the climax arrives; while the other is being varied and presented for many more times through the work. These two themes finally mingle together. The whole process is also a realization from the dark to the bright. The cover was designed by Alissa Yang exclusively for this work.

• 3333, baritone saxophone, 4331, timpani+3, piano, strings

• Duration: 7 minutes

• Premiered by Seattle Symphony Orchestra; Julia Tai, conductor

• Program notes:

Overture to The Siege reflects and anticipates the events in the opera and depicts the restraint, frustration, and confused feelings people might experience when besieged. In fact, as the novel Fortress Besieged and the opera The Siege imply, maybe all of us are besieged in some way. Even if some people can break the restraint, they eventually will find that the so-called ‘new free world’ is just a more extensive siege that embraces the previous small world. Living a life sometimes equals dealing with all kinds of troubles. And absolute freedom is just a beautiful dream.

The opening of the Overture sets an evocative mood with free rhythms and breathy sound effects. One instrumental color that stands out is the baritone saxophone, exploited here for the biting snarl of its low range in a lively Allegretto section.