Emory Composers' Society

This piece tells the story of a community in drought who performs a prayerdance to bring rain. “Raindance” is the prelude of an as yet uncompleted collection of southern gothic compositions for chamber ensemble and solo instrumentalists, so within this piece are motives which appear throughout the collection: the famine and thirst, the ritual of prayerdance, the rain, the celebration, the fear of what lies ahead.

as it breathes so deeply… for string quartet does not shy away from simplicity. As one of my first compositions (originally drafted in 2020), I wrote this piece to embody the Earth’s complex ecological systems. The title as it breathes so deeply refers to these interwoven systems acting in unison. As each facet of life on Earth affects one another, the earth in essence acts as a single breathing organism.

Iji Lile, the Yoruba translation for the word “hurricane”, or “strong storm,” was composed to explore the dark and haunting textures that can be created through the minor flat 6 chord. The piece opens with chilling waves of sound, providing a fitting backdrop for the haunting violin melody that succeeds it. The turbulent ambiance gives rise to a lush middle section, with the cello and viola taking the stage with a heartwarming duet echoed by the piano. Before long, the eye of the storm has passed, and the themes heard at the beginning return for a frightening encore that simmers down to a solemn ending, as the hurricane has left nothing but destruction in its wake.

“City of Rain” is a solo piano piece composed by Jeffrey Shi Jie Zheng in his senior year. It is inspired by the movie “Weathering with You.” Following the journey of the protagonist, the piece uses changes in time signature and tempo to demonstrate different moods.

This is an improvised piece inspired by “Garden Song” by Phoebe Bridgers. The score was hand-drawn using a 0.8 point felt tip pen. The piece has 6 parts that can be divided between any number of musicians. The conductor and players are given creative freedom to interpret the graphic score however they would like

One night this past August, I laid on a lawn with some of my best friends — people I had only known for four weeks — and watched heat lightning flash in the distance. Heat Lightning is a piece about found community (regardless of how fleeting it is), and about the bonds that we form through time together with those who care. It is dedicated to the belief that we can create a better world through shared vision, mutual care, and unified action.