Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
** NOTES FOR EACH PIECE IN THE DESCRIPTION **
In this video I'll show off my portfolio along with some of my musical and academic stats, activities, and awards. I didn't really apply to many conservatories except for BCB because I was still looking for the academic qualities of a university as well as typical college life. Hopefully this video can inspire you to write music for your portfolio or get you thinking about applying to music schools in the future!
0:00 Stats
0:15 Rage (NYU, Jacobs, Bard, Berklee, BCB)
I only worked on Rage when I was considerably angry. No matter the reason or intensity, I would work on this piece to put the rage into music, which also calmed me down a little. I tried experimenting with less tonal/chromatic movement, which I think worked pretty well. Not much else to say for this one.
5:32 Friends (NYU, Belmont, Jacobs, Bard, BCB)
I'll be honest. The program notes I wrote for this have NOTHING to do with the actual piece. I wrote it first and then created a story for it. I just wanted an excuse to experiment with different modes and scales. Despite mainly being a piano player, I haven't actually written much for solo piano, this being I think my second piece for piano.
11:57 Prelude and Allegro (Belmont, Jacobs, Bard, BCB)
This was my second attempt at writting a string quartet. I reused some material/ideas from the first attempt, especially the structure. I was influenced by Shostakovich's 8th when writing this piece, which I'm sure is very audible. I also had images of fingering charts for each instrument to make sure that the chords or runs I was writing were nice to play, although I'm not a string player so I definitely messed up some places.
17:02 The Death of Semele (NYU, Bard, BCB)
This piece was written for my Latin Class Final. We had to make a film reenacting one of the myths we read in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and my group chose to do the Death of Semele and the Birth of Bacchus. After filming, I knew I didn't want to look up music that wouldn't fit the timing, so I resolved to write it myself. The hardest part about making this piece was fitting the music to the film and timing everything just right.
22:13 Infinite Waters (NYU, BCB)
This piece was written for my school's concert band, which is why the instrumentation is so wacky. It was supposed to be premiered by my school, which I had put on my resume, and I emailed my band director asking about such an opportunity, but once I sent the piece over he never responded to me. I had made the main melody over a year ago, but never found the right place to put it until now. Well, at least when my band director said he'd premiere the piece.
29:19 Revenge (Bard)
My first classical piece, which is why it may sound rudimentary. I was inspired by Tsfasman's Jazz Suite, specifically the movement titled Snowflakes. Originally the piece was titled MasterBeiber Revenge because I asked one of my friends what to title the piece and that's what he said. However, I didn't think colleges would really like to see "MasterBeiber Revenge", so I shortened it to just "Revenge", which actually kind of works with the piece. Early into the college process, I revised the piece to make it a little more possible, making it slower and changing repeated chords to just be repeated octaves. I'm pretty sure it's still very impossible though.
35:27 IT'S ME (NYU)
For NYU, I applied to their screen scoring program, and they let you submit works made from a DAW for any sort of visual media. I had worked on a couple Deltarune fangames in late 2025, and I didn't really have any other music for visual media, and I mean I might as well. This piece in particular was made for a FNaF-Deltarune fangame during a boss fight with Golden Freddy. Thus, you will hear various Deltarune and FNaF motifs throughout. I wonder if the portfolio reviewers caught them. This piece is also available on my Spotify.
38:09 Through the Treetops (NYU)
Pretty much the same thing with IT'S ME. I could submit it, so might as well. This piece was made for a Deltarune fangame. Not a mixture of games, just Deltarune. I think the guy who commissioned me abandoned the project shortly after though, as I haven't heard from him since or seen him online. This piece is also available on my Spotify, with some artwork I made (it looks like that on purpose).
40:59 Outro
Also the background music was made by me. I haven't published it yet but I might. Maybe.
** NOTES FOR EACH PIECE IN THE DESCRIPTION **
In this video I'll show off my portfolio along with some of my musical and academic stats, activities, and awards. I didn't really apply to many conservatories except for BCB because I was still looking for the academic qualities of a university as well as typical college life. Hopefully this video can inspire you to write music for your portfolio or get you thinking about applying to music schools in the future!
0:00 Stats
0:15 Rage (NYU, Jacobs, Bard, Berklee, BCB)
I only worked on Rage when I was considerably angry. No matter the reason or intensity, I would work on this piece to put the rage into music, which also calmed me down a little. I tried experimenting with less tonal/chromatic movement, which I think worked pretty well. Not much else to say for this one.
5:32 Friends (NYU, Belmont, Jacobs, Bard, BCB)
I'll be honest. The program notes I wrote for this have NOTHING to do with the actual piece. I wrote it first and then created a story for it. I just wanted an excuse to experiment with different modes and scales. Despite mainly being a piano player, I haven't actually written much for solo piano, this being I think my second piece for piano.
11:57 Prelude and Allegro (Belmont, Jacobs, Bard, BCB)
This was my second attempt at writting a string quartet. I reused some material/ideas from the first attempt, especially the structure. I was influenced by Shostakovich's 8th when writing this piece, which I'm sure is very audible. I also had images of fingering charts for each instrument to make sure that the chords or runs I was writing were nice to play, although I'm not a string player so I definitely messed up some places.
17:02 The Death of Semele (NYU, Bard, BCB)
This piece was written for my Latin Class Final. We had to make a film reenacting one of the myths we read in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and my group chose to do the Death of Semele and the Birth of Bacchus. After filming, I knew I didn't want to look up music that wouldn't fit the timing, so I resolved to write it myself. The hardest part about making this piece was fitting the music to the film and timing everything just right.
22:13 Infinite Waters (NYU, BCB)
This piece was written for my school's concert band, which is why the instrumentation is so wacky. It was supposed to be premiered by my school, which I had put on my resume, and I emailed my band director asking about such an opportunity, but once I sent the piece over he never responded to me. I had made the main melody over a year ago, but never found the right place to put it until now. Well, at least when my band director said he'd premiere the piece.
29:19 Revenge (Bard)
My first classical piece, which is why it may sound rudimentary. I was inspired by Tsfasman's Jazz Suite, specifically the movement titled Snowflakes. Originally the piece was titled MasterBeiber Revenge because I asked one of my friends what to title the piece and that's what he said. However, I didn't think colleges would really like to see "MasterBeiber Revenge", so I shortened it to just "Revenge", which actually kind of works with the piece. Early into the college process, I revised the piece to make it a little more possible, making it slower and changing repeated chords to just be repeated octaves. I'm pretty sure it's still very impossible though.
35:27 IT'S ME (NYU)
For NYU, I applied to their screen scoring program, and they let you submit works made from a DAW for any sort of visual media. I had worked on a couple Deltarune fangames in late 2025, and I didn't really have any other music for visual media, and I mean I might as well. This piece in particular was made for a FNaF-Deltarune fangame during a boss fight with Golden Freddy. Thus, you will hear various Deltarune and FNaF motifs throughout. I wonder if the portfolio reviewers caught them. This piece is also available on my Spotify.
38:09 Through the Treetops (NYU)
Pretty much the same thing with IT'S ME. I could submit it, so might as well. This piece was made for a Deltarune fangame. Not a mixture of games, just Deltarune. I think the guy who commissioned me abandoned the project shortly after though, as I haven't heard from him since or seen him online. This piece is also available on my Spotify, with some artwork I made (it looks like that on purpose).
40:59 Outro
Also the background music was made by me. I haven't published it yet but I might. Maybe.
