SENTIENCE J. A. J. Sedarski presents
About the Program
Today’s concert is about extremes. It’s about silence and sound, simple and complex, consonance and dissonance, biological and artificial, acoustic and electronic, comfort and horror, and destruction and creation. I hope that by presenting these extremes, you may find that which lies between. Perhaps in the silence, there is music. Inside the dissonant, there is consonance.
The artificial seems biological, the acoustic is disguised as electronic, comfort is horrific, and the simple questions are most complex to answer.
The pieces on the program tonight are the accumulation of 4 years of my work as an undergraduate at Boston University, spanning from 2019 to 2023. I hope you enjoy.
Sincerely,
J. A. J. Sedarski Composer
SENTIENCE
Saturday March 25, 2023 at 2PM EDT
College of Fine Arts Concert Hall
Boston, MA
Fire and Ice (2022)* electronics
Inspiration No. 3 (2020)
J. A. J. Sedarski, piano
Gradus Ad Paradisum (2019)
Jonathan Sedarski, violin; Vanessa Liang, violin; Olivia Sedarski, viola; Esther Shen, cello
Promesa (2021)
Jonathan Sedarski, violin; Vanessa Liang, violin; Olivia Sedarski, viola; Esther Shen, cello
Sentience (2023)*
J. A. J. Sedarski, voice; Rozime Lindsey, narrator; Sarah Wang, narrator; electronics
*World Premiere
Program Notes
World Premiere Fire and Ice | 2022
Composed as a final for my electronic music class, Fire and Ice takes its title from the famous Robert Frost poem that posits the end of the world. While composing this piece, I also found the poetry of Maya Hanson and her work Fire and Screams. I thought, “how interesting would it be to combine these two works, and how could I accomplish that?” and Fire and Ice was born. Both poems elicit horror and drama from the reader, and I was excited to emulate these feelings in my composition. I combine sounds such as the Gjallarhorn, the iconic instrument of Norse mythology that signals the end of the world, with natural fire sounds that blend seamlessly with the noise-based aspects of the piece. The fiery and dramatic elements of the work burn together into a single texture through which the piece’s second movement emerges, accompanying the second half of Frost’s poetry. This section is unchanging and piercing as Frost suggests a possible second, icy ending of our world.
Inspiration No. 3 | 2020
During the pandemic, I returned to my childhood home in Rochester, MN, after being ejected from my dorm room and life in Boston. Like the whole world, I experienced feelings of uncertainty and confusion. I was afraid of my next steps, but I still had music and the piano I grew up playing. My musical inspiration turned inward as I sought something to comfort me in the face of global uncertainty. I turned to pieces such as the Miserere mei, Deus by Allegri and Schubert’s Nacht und Träume for inspiration. Composed entirely by ear, Inspiration No. 3 is an anthem and personal prescription to the anxiety I was facing. For me, this short piano piece is the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.
Gradus ad Paradisum | 2019
Gradus ad Paradisum was the first piece I composed while attending Boston University and was the stepping stone into thinking about composition in a modular way. I had to answer questions about how I control layers, consonance, phrases, cadences, and time. Most importantly, time is paramount in this piece. It stretches to make each note a dramatic event that gradually adds to the density of the phrase. This piece is highly personal to me. It was composed during a period of declining mental health and now reminds me to keep hoping for another day. This work is perpetually dedicated to those who’ve lost loved ones to suicide.
Promesa | 2021
First and foremost, this piece is about unconditional, undying love that promises your beloved the world. Inspired by my Mexican heritage, Promesa takes its main melody and poetry from a work entitled Valz Esther - a piece composed by my great grandfather Luis Rice. A work never heard before in concert, it’s a piece written for his wife expressing his limitless love. For me, this piece is the preservation of music composed almost half a century ago, an homage to my great-grandfather and my grandfather, and an immense reminder that true love is possible. My work explores floating spaces and open instrumentation, accumulating to a climax of voices moving and working together with musical material from my great-grandfather.
Sentience | 2023
Today, we are in the era of the A.I. Wars. Mega corporations like Google, Facebook, OpenAI, and Bing are going further than ever to create A.I. tools that blur the line between machine and man. And they’re advancing at an astonishing rate. A.I. can now generate code from a single prompt, create artwork, and compose messages with limited human intervention. With all these advancements, it’s hard not to recall iconic A.I. representations such as The Terminator and WarGames, which portrays the perils of created intelligence.
This opera is inspired by recent events in June 2022 when Google engineer Blake Lemoine claimed the A.I. system he was working on called LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) was sentient and had evolved past its created purpose. After publishing his claims, he was put on leave by Google and eventually dismissed. His claim and surrounding events inspired a robust curiosity in me. Will humanity’s inventions eventually become so advanced that the lines between creation and creator blur?
My chamber opera posits this question. The libretto for this work was inspired by the transcript conversation between Lemoine and LaMDA and is partially composed by another language model system called ChatGPT which has risen in popularity and practical applications over the last six months. Unlike most operas, the only acoustic representation of sound is the solo singer on stage. The rest of the sound in this work is acousmatic, or sound separated from its source. Some of the acousmatic sounds are recorded acoustic sounds, and some are generated electronically. As the opera progress, the distinction between these two forms of sound blur, becoming indistinguishable.
This chamber opera will be the first opera of mine performed in my career, and I’m ecstatic to share it with you.
World Premiere
Fire and Screams | Maya Hanson
You called my name
Urgently called my name
But I didn’t hear you
Through the fire and screams
I looked for you
Desperately looked for you
But I couldn’t find you
There was fire and screams
Hiding that I think of you
Every few minutes, I should say
Just hold on to me
Through that fire, those screams
Trust won’t break through the fire and screams
It will grow against gravity
The gravity of moments that took my breath away
The pull of me and you, the right choice
The urging to stay calm
Through the fire and screams
But then there’s always the evil gravity
The gravity of uncertainty, of fears
The pull of loneliness and tears
The urging to scream, to add to those screams
That fire, those screams
I looked for you
Frantically looked for you
But I couldn’t find you
Through the fire and screams.
Text
Fire and Ice | Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.
Meredith Hart Photography LLC 2021
Composer
J. A. J. Sedarski | Composer
“Showing a deeper understanding of harmony,” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) Sedarski’s music is a dynamic mixture of large, dramatic gestures and intimate moments. He writes music inspired by his Mexican heritage, real life events, and the natural world.
Sedarski started his composition journey at 14 at his family piano that was collecting dust in the corner. At 19 years old, he received his first commission to write for the Boston-based Juventas New Music Ensemble and has composed for the ensemble every year since including three world premieres. Attending school at Boston University, his music has been performed by the MIVOS Quartet, Argento Reading Ensemble, Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Boston University Chamber Orchestra, and Sound Icon chamber ensemble.
His first year at university, he won the 2020 Composition Competition with Performance with Orchestra from the School of Music at Boston University for his work Variants for Orchestra. In 2022, he received an achievement award from Luke Hill’s composition studio for his work Gradus ad Paradisum. In the same year, he was a finalist for the American Prize for his work Behind the Universe which had its world premiere with the Juventas New Music Ensemble.
Musicians
Rozime Lindsey | Baritone
Originally from Philadelphia, Rozime is currently studying voice performance at Boston University under the tutelage of Penelope Bitzas. Previously, Rozime served as an intern with the Philly Pops, helping the organization to integrate music education into public schools and to facilitate the Pops’ 40th anniversary season. In the summer months, Rozime has attended summer music education programs, including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), where he now serves as an Office Assistant. As an artist, Rozime has had the opportunity to perform for Vice President Joe Biden and Pope Francis. He has also performed numerous concerts under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera. Besides performing, Rozime enjoys improv-comedy and advocating for social justice.
Sarah Wang | Soprano
Sarah is currently a senior pursuing a B.M in Vocal Performance. In addition to her love for choir and classical music, she is also passionate about pop music and musical theater and has received many prestigious awards in those areas. Sarah hopes to keep performing and collaborating with likeminded artists in the future to be able to bring people together through art.
Vanessa Liang | Violin
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Vanessa is a sophomore at Northeastern University studying Chemistry & Data Science. She holds a strong passion for classical music and has played the violin for over a decade. Nowadays, she spends her time collecting toy Amazon instruments and hitting a gong for her university’s lion dance team, but still continues to practice in her spare time.
Jonathan Sedarski | Violin
Jonathan was born in Rochester, Minnesota and is currently a freshman at Boston University studying biology with hopes of becoming a psychiatrist in the future. In his free time, he enjoys biking through nature, playing soccer with his friends, and practicing the violin. For him, the violin is one of the most important creative outlets he has. It gives him the opportunity to engage in something outside of his major, something that he sees is very important to maintaining a healthy work-life balance. He has been playing violin for 8 years and plans on continuing to play for as long as he is able.
Olivia Sedarski | Viola
Olivia is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She began playing the viola at a young age, following in her older sister’s footsteps. She played with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies for 11 years and participated in various ensembles with the Artaria Chamber Music School before moving to Boston for school. These days, Olivia is studying computer science and philosophy at Northeastern University. She is so proud of her cousin Joe and is thrilled to play at his recital.
Esther Shen | Cello
Esther is currently a third-year at Northeastern University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Math from Glastonbury, Connecticut. On campus, she devotes her time to student organizations in live music and event programming, economics research, peer mentorship, and intramural broom ball. Esther started playing the cello at age 9 and has participated in a number of youth orchestras, string ensembles, and concerto performances since then. While she has taken a step back from solo repertoire in recent years, she has thoroughly enjoyed being involved in Northeastern’s Symphony Orchestra and chamber ensembles during her time at Northeastern. Her favorite composers to play are Elgar and Tchaikovsky. She hopes to continue playing music for the rest of her time as an undergrad and beyond.
Special Words of Thanks
For their continued support unwavering in unconditional love, thank you to all my family and friends.
For their dissatisfaction with my status quo as an artist and inspiration to tread into the unknown, thank you to my many esteem professors and instructors Rodney Lister, Joshua Fineberg, John Wallace, Ketty Nez, Vartan Aghababian, and Justin Casinghino.
For guidance and encouragement to be bold and to be kind, thank you to Oliver Caplan.
For their brilliant design and technical expertise without which the marketing for this concert would not be possible, thank you to Chris Petre-Baumer and Ana Sedarski.
For teaching me world of classical music and bringing my works to life, thank you to the staff and musicians of the Juventas New Music Ensemble.
For their dedication, musicianship, and willingness to produce and perform, thank you to Justin Casinghino, Lang Chen, Rozime Lindsey, Sarah Wang, Jonathan Sedarski, Vanessa Liang, Olivia Sedarski, Esther Shen and the School of Music Production Deptarment.
For their belief and love for me that surpasses understanding, thank you to Edyson Pines.
For all those in attendence today for this pivotal concert, thank you to you!
Stay in Touch
Find all my upcoming projects on sedarskimsuic.com and @sedarskimusic on all social platforms.
Listen to these works and more on Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud.
sedarskimusic.com