Phobiaphages
for solo or duo violins and electronics
Performed by Batya MacAdam-Somer and Kim Hain. Premiered in October 2013 at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego.
This is a work for dueling violins that embodies a power struggle between two personalities. The first is icy, measured, philosophical, and nostalgic. A sadistic, playful, and virtuosic side emerges from the first personality and takes on a life of its own, eventually subsuming the scene in a flurry of loud and erratic gestures that are reflected in the electronic material. Nearing the work's close, the two personalities metabolize each other in a series of call-and-response cadences.