PmuD Ib

In 2020, during a conversation about where we live and the unique challenges associated with different places we have lived, a friend of mine in Berlin asked whether I felt comfortable living in the United States—specifically, whether I found it to be more progressive than Japan in terms of its treatment of minority communities. I responded, partly with my rusty German but in all honesty:

“More or less. Progressivität mit unendlicher Dissonanz.”

“Progressiveness with never-ending dissonance.” Quite unexpectedly, I found that this phrase poetically encapsulated how I viewed my own situation and the world around me. I have always viewed the act of composing—my way of saying something—as a move towards progressiveness, and that gives rise to resistance of many kinds. It becomes an ongoing question of how to say something despite all that is happening to me and around me. As the pandemic has brought fundamental changes in the lives of many, including mine, it also prompts me to ask myself an existential question: Is there anything left for me to say in the first place?

Emerging from the COVID-19 crisis, PmuD was initially my attempt to “say something” through a series of miniature works. However, after four years, I once again feel the urgency to continue this series, even if it deviates from its original conception of creating miniatures. The first of the new departure was PmuD III, written and subsequently revised/enlarged in 2025-26.

I have always thought of my PmuD I, one-minute miniature for flute and piano, as a piece that was essentially composed with one brush stroke. Composing in this manner was out of necessity; it was written as a 24-hour composing challenge by Ensemble Assonance (Armenia). However, owing to the ways the musical ideas unfold within the piece, I have always felt that I could elaborate on them, making the work more substan- tial. This was my principal goal in composing PmuD Ib; I allowed myself to let that which I left off six years ago grow again, now that having to keep the piece under one minute—a relic of the uploading restriction on the social media at that time—is no longer a requirement for me.

Written at the request of the New Music on the Point September Retreat 2026, PmuD Ib is written for and dedicated to Duo Axis (Zach Sheets and Wei-Han Wu) and Amy Williams.

Alternate Program Notes

“Progressivität mit unendlicher Dissonanz” (Progressiveness with never-ending dissonance) was what I told my friend in Germany with my rusty German upon reflecting on and comparing my lives between US and Japan. Existentialistic in nature, soon it became a personal motto. What started as a series of miniatures under this motto soon became a series with longer pieces. PmuD Ib is an elaboration of my PmuD I, one-minute miniature for flute and piano as a response to the 24-hour composing challenge by Ensemble Assonance (Armenia) during the pandemics. I allowed myself to let that which I left off six years ago grow again, now that having to keep the piece under one minute—a relic of the uploading restriction on the social media at that time—is no longer a requirement for me. Written at the request of the New Music on the Point September Retreat 2026, PmuD Ib is written for and dedicated to Duo Axis (Zach Sheets and Wei-Han Wu) and Amy Williams.