Next Time is a piece that is meant to evoke a feeling of regret. The type of regret that doesn't make you agonize or even feel sorrowful but rather, the type of regret that makes you feel like you missed out on something you could have had. That is why for this presentation of this piece I decided to add numerous photos I took of London, Paris, and even the German countryside--it's when you get to go to these new types of places that you are made to wonder if there's something memorable to be made back home in your everyday life. "Maybe I should go out today," or, "Today is a good day to drive around the city,"...just these little choices that are often pushed aside with the thought, "I'll do it next time."

On the flip side, End of the Year is a piece about the times you did have. People celebrate the New Year with parties and celebrations, setting new goals for their "new" selves and, in general, showing excitement for what's to come. But I've found that it's rare for people to sit and think about what they actually did in the past year. It always seems like people are eager to leave the old year behind in search of the new one, and I was never able to figure out why that is. I always felt that the end of the year and the start of a new one was bittersweet in that it's almost as if you say goodbye to the good times you had in the past year and turn the page only to find it blank. Of course, I realize that this new page will be filled with memories and moments in the months and years to come. And maybe for some people, the past year was simply not enjoyable due to circumstances. But I believe, somewhere in that year, regardless of what you've gone through, there was something that brought you joy, peace, and happiness. That said, I decided to have a collage of my old photos, or rather my "life timeline", as the presentation of this piece because it reminds me of the life that I have had, that was so real in the moment, that almost feels too distant now.

Special thanks to my younger sister Anna who was actually the one who put the videos together!
Your older brother shall repay this debt with something nice for your birthday...

I composed these two pieces with them already "completed" in my head. I was laying around and beautiful melodies started swirling in my head, so I thought to myself, "I need to write these down." Of course, those melodies also had heavy meaning behind them, and I wanted to write it down as fast as possible - before I could forget. Unfortunately, I don't have perfect pitch. So what do I do? Sit at the piano and figure out all those notes! It may sound irritating or it may sound like it was hard work, but it really wasn't. I was somewhat explosive with these two pieces, and I was able to get it all done within a weekend's time. The instrumentation came easily because I, myself, have experience with a lot of the instruments used (saxophone, clarinet, violin, piano). For the instruments I don't have experience with, I know what they sound like and I can at least "guess" what their capabilities are (for example, my violin knowledge being transferred to the cello). Of course, there were some touch-ups here and there, but in general, I wrote both of these pieces in a very, very short amount of time. In fact, I vividly remember spending only around 6-8 hours on End of the Year! That's still my fastest yet!

To this day, these two pieces took the shortest amount of time to write down out of all my pieces, despite how intricately thought-out they were (in terms of melody, harmony, structure, etc.). Of my compositions so far, these are among my favorites. I still listen to them all the time! :)