The following scores and the accompanying essay stand in representation of my creative work during the completion of my Master’s degree at The University of California, Santa Cruz. The compositions included herein are Entwined to Fray (2018) for string quartet, Fractured Pond (2019) for ten players, Contrasts (2019) for solo piano, and We, too, can divide ourselves…(2020) for solo flute.

The essay component of this thesis has been separated into two main sections. The first portion focuses on a discussion of certain overarching concerns which have become central influences on my compositional thinking during the past two years, namely the derivation of musical forms through the exploration of abstracted dichotomous relationships found within extra-musical concepts/metaphors. Additionally, the first section also includes brief descriptions of various approaches to the conception and handling of musical materials employed within the two solo works included within this thesis. The second portion focuses on elucidating my creative process through in-depth analyses of the works Entwined to Fray and Fractured Pond.