title

stone

year of composition

2025

duration

8′

composed

for the lucerne festival academy

instrumentation

1(=picc).1.1(=bcl).1-0.0.0.0-perc(1):rtom／vib／scym／tam／timp／bd-pf-1.1.1.1.1

performance

• august 24, 2025 | kkl luzern, lucerne, switzerland | lucerne summer festival 2025

IEMA-ensemble

julia cruz · conductor

program note

Stone connects the ancient act of stoning with the many forms of collective violence we see in today’s society, exploring how crowds think and how such violence works. In both cases, the crowd often becomes the attacker in the name of justice. Backed by anonymity, institutional support, or a sense of moral superiority, people surround their target with different tools instead of stones, while remaining emotionally detached.

The title stone stands for both the weight of public judgment and the cold, hardened feelings that make such violence possible. Throughout the piece, repeated upward and downward movements grow out of the simple path of a thrown stone, showing the build-up of tension before violence turns into a crowd’s action, the surge of its energy, and the numb silence left behind.