The Fig and The Wasp (2021)

Electronic score for CalArts Theater Production

90 minutes

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Performed at the Walt Disney Modular Theater, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
December 3-10, 2021

Written by Samantha Behr
Directed by Josh Sobel
Composition by Sam Wells

Running Time: 2 hours 30 mins, with a 15 minute intermission.

program note

How do you fight hopelessness? A senator from a well-known political family, Rosaura Flagg promotes stability to her fellow citizens, even as the country is crumbling. As a mysterious disease starts to spread, her daughter lies in a hospital room in a coma-like sleep. The Fig and The Wasp explores the destruction caused by isolation and the power of care and connection, against the backdrop of a world on fire.

Loom Telling (2021)

single-channel video, 3840 x 2160, binaural audio

10 minutes and 20 seconds

Wearing headphones is strongly recommended to fully experience the binaural audio.

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Recorded in The Dizzy Gillespie Recording Studio, California Institute of the Arts
Filmed in C113, California Institute of the ArtsStarting December 1st, 2021, haegeum performer/composer

Jeonghyeon Joo, producing & haegeum performance
Sam Wells, music composition, audio mixing & mastering
Max Harper, director of photography & editing
Alex Buck, recording engineer

program note

Jeonghyeon Joo presents new work under the theme of The Art of Bowing every first day of the month until May 2022. Featured works include her solo compositions and collaborative works with composers, performers, and filmmakers based in Los Angeles and Seoul. Each of the six chapters will consist of an audiovisual piece, performance recording, or writing.

The Art of Bowing explores aesthetics and the world beyond the action of bowing, questioning what is beyond the body, sound, and movement of herself and her instrument. It first draws the aesthetic meaning of the bowing itself by putting a microscopic lens to the physicality of the haegeum and the performing body. It then captures the moment of connection and disconnection between them and expands its perspective to the environment and socio-cultural context surrounding the haegeum and body.

The Art of Bowing is made possible through the generous support from the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Collaborators: Sam Wells, Max Harper, Tim Feeney, Sangbin Patrick Rhie, Ulrich Krieger, and Yoona Kim.

polymyth № 645 (2021)

for eight trumpets

Sam Wells – composer, trumpeter, audio & video editor

“polymyth № 645” was originally premiered as "polymath 1" on Episode 85 of Metropolis Ensemble’s "House Music" video series.

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Note

“Composer and Trumpeter Sam Wells first moved to Los Angeles 18 months ago. It was there that he began to immerse himself in desert ecology, exploring the vast, dusty landscape of the Mojave Desert. He’s always been an outdoorsy person, traversing the mountains of the east coast, but the desert is new to him. Its wide open, barren land seems like a cradle of history—you can see the volcanoes and ancient rock formations of Earth’s past—but at the same time, standing there it feels as if there’s no time at all. So, he’s set out to make music that evokes that feeling of endlessness and interwoven past and present. “polymyth 1” is a movement from a larger, still untitled work that unites these ideas.

Wells began working with Metropolis Ensemble in 2017 when he performed works by electroacoustic composer Paula Matthusen. Since, he’s played with the group at a festival at Bryant Park and at Symphony Space for Bill Brittelle’s Spiritual America. He looks back on each experience fondly, remembering the performances for their high quality and the engaging music he played. 

Beyond its desert inspiration, “polymyth 1” is an exploration of how stories are passed down generation-to-generation, using translucent, layered video and sonic effects to illustrate the ways that stories morph and transform throughout time while maintaining the same core threads. Increasingly, Wells’s practice equally involves recording, editing, and performing, and here, he puts this multimedia style on display. The piece is essentially a trumpet octet, where Wells plays each part. Four of the parts are notated, while four are improvised. What we hear is a weaving, intricate chorale; what we see is an image of Wells that moves in and out of focus alongside the music to illuminate the ways that mythologies are constantly in motion.” – Vanessa Ague