Writing

I watched 10 Masterclass courses in a week and here is what I learned essay

I watched the Masterclasses of 10 artists and boiled down what I learned into some generalizations about the creative process.

Poetics of the Fragment Conference essay

“A fragment, like a miniature work of art, has to be entirely isolated from the surrounding world and be complete in itself like a hedgehog” — Athenaeum Fragment 206

Here's a hammer for your thesis statement essay

This is a quick way to make a point in your writing.

The Utopian Syllabus essay

School can feel disorienting and esoteric. What say we embrace the fiction of the classroom?

Making Dark Sounds Together essay

My program note for Ah Young Hong’s April 7 recital looks at works by Milton Babbitt, Georg Friedrich Haas, and Michael Hersch as essays in darkness and light.

Hand Exercises for Artists essay

As artists, we all make esoteric things with our hands. Here are some other esoteric things you can do with your hands to take care of your hands.

Sometimes a music video becomes a blood orange fever dream media

The problem of the torso— the root of everything cut off from everything— gives us an oblique way to think about music whose form is simultaneously so contained and yet chaotic.

Writing On Walls essay

For a concert in a unique venue, I wrote a program note in the form of an extended simile of faces and walls.

Meditation for Musicians: A Practical Guide essay

When I started getting curious about meditation, I was searching for concrete answers to questions like: What’s the point of this? How do I do it? How do I know it’s working?

Journal: Lyon journal

Every piece of the city is framed by some other piece.

Doctorate Debriefing essay

It took me six years, but I can finally answer your burning questions, like: Should I pursue a doctorate in music? What even is a doctorate in music?

Making music with Michael Hersch media

Editing the 2018 trailer for "On the Threshold of Winter" was an exercise in remixing Michael Hersch with Michael Hersch.

Sehnsucht through Sound Design media

Working with director John Belanger, I confronted two linked questions. How should a composer think about sound design? And, how should a sound designer think about music?

Journal: Baja journal

You become an expert at navigating the shadows under such a tremendous sun. you see your way through the city within these awkward patterns superimposed on the streets.

Searching for Zach Turpin's Story feature

Most of the press is quick to tout the needle-in-a-haystack aspect of Zachary Turpin’s research. However, a relentlessness belies this air of serendipity around his literary discoveries.

Journal: Montréal journal

I admired that most people wore unimpressive shoes but were beautiful despite and because of this. I walked the Jean-Talon every morning.

video reel 2017 media

Lucid dreaming an opera essay

Let's follow blurry lines from a short opera I wrote into the philosophy of faces, the poetics of plastic surgery, and the art of lucid dreaming.

College of Charleston Student Profiles feature

A clip from a project for the College of Charleston's Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Our Lady of Mercy "Yes I Can" program feature feature

Volunteer video work for Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach in Charleston.

Talking Process with Oscar Bettison feature

A pilot project profiling faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, filmed with So Percussion.

Bernard Died Original Score media

A quick cut of music written for the short film Bernard Died, directed by Andrea Massaro and written by Tony Lee.

Wedding Video media

A nontraditional wedding video for a couple of close friends, cut to a remix of their first-dance song.

The Indigo Inn, Charleston media

Charleston, South Carolina is unique among tourist destinations. The city’s commitment to bridging its past and its future ensures a richness of experience for travelers and locals alike.

Translations: Neruda's "Resurrecciones" translation

A translation of Pablo Neruda's "Resurrecciones."

TIMHOLTMUSIC font design

I was in the market for an idosyncratic display font that captured my musical voice– a Futura with personality, I guess.

Peabody Modern Orchestra design

For the Peabody Modern Orchestra, I experimented with a stark, contemporary look & feel while operating within John Hopkins' branding guidelines.

my heart comes undone media

A video for Judah Adashi's piece my heart comes undone, premiered at the New Music Gathering 2015 in San Francisco.

Journal: Oklahoma journal

In the city of Oklahoma City, you can see everything. Maybe it's nothing you want to see.

Dark Utopias: Music and Minor Literature essay

Minor literature refers to the work of a alien artist (estranged, foreign, &c) within a major language. I wonder about musical analogues for this.

Summer mix journal

This playlist has been accompanying me on my morning train rides into Baltimore for the last few weeks now.

Hammer, pedestal, face, and hand (part 1) essay

There is a problem with music. Let's jump in here to discover the full scope of a musical note and the role of notation in defining the concept of music.

New music: solo flute media

Finally had a chance to lay down this flute piece and edit it. A big thanks goes out to the flautist, Andrew Foley, for enjoying the piece enough to hold onto it.