title

crowns with clowns

year of composition

2025

duration

7′

written

for the new music new haven

instrumentation

string quartet

performances

• october 9, 2025 | new haven, united states

jaewon wee, hyein koo · violin

ayano nakamura · viola

michael bridges · cello

• october 19, 2025 | new york city, united states

jaewon wee, hyein koo · violin

ayano nakamura · viola

michael bridges · cello

program note

This piece began with a simple question: what is it about the crown that makes individuals so obsessed with it? crown with clowns explores this fixation through the form of a relentless waltz. The music creates a tension that reflects the severity of our time, where the actions taken to preserve power have moved beyond satire into something truly grotesque. As the cycle of the waltz continues without resolution, it mirrors how these acts of authority and excess are becoming synchronized globally—a dance of anxiety where the crown and the clown are one and the same.