Phenomenology is the study of an objective phenomenon through a subjective lens. In this project, started by former Ohio University graduate student, Ryne Siesky (M.M. 2019), a group of composers are given a specific object, musical idea, or artwork and asked to use it as the inspiration for a collaborative work of music. Because they start from the same place, individual differences in the composers' styles are highlighted while still fitting into a coherent whole.

The ongoing pandemic has limited creativity in many ways. Simply gathering composers and performers in one place creates unnecessary health risks. So, in this iteration of Phenomenology, I wanted to lean heavily into the asynchronous methods of music-making that have become so prevalent recently.

Each composer was given an instrument, a range of measures, and an interval vector to work with independently from each other. Once all parts were stitched together, the performers went to work creating recordings of their parts, independently as well.

This is the end result: Phenomenology No. 5