Workaround

A composition for a 13-piece chamber orchestra, Workaround is concerned with the labor and agency of the performers. The piece is structured around a repeated "rondo" theme that traps the performers, the piece, and the audience; following each iteration of the theme, the performers attempt to escape it musically, only to be wrenched back into it and have to start again. After many attempts, it becomes clear that the only way to truly escape it is by withholding musical labor, opening up into a fragile, collaborative, improvisatory ending. A live recording of this work by the Grossman Ensemble, conducted by Michael Lewanski, is included as a supplementary material.