Program Notes:
Unstrung was written to be the opening piece of a production titled “Quilt” in January 2017, commissioned and presented by my experimental music and dance company Duende. I was interested in finding an introverted yet expressive voice translated through the violin itself, and to me the gestures of this piece and the emphasis on gradual transformation of sound and color reflects the physicality of anxiety. The sense of being unstrung, unnerved, unhinged, manifests itself for me in a very physical way, most prominently in an overwhelming sensation of muscle tension, and the inability to release that internalized tension within my body. Unstrung reflects that tension and anxiety, but also the cathartic release of those sensations.