IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY
(TRIO FOR FLUTE, CELLO, AND PIANO, NO. 1)
'IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY' is a trio for flute, cello, and piano, written in close collaboration with trio and good friends Temporal Harmonies, Inc. The piece is split into the following four movements:
I. Moonscorched
II. Madeleine, Mortlake
III. Together We'll Ring In the New Year
IV. IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY
When Temporal Harmonies, Inc. tasked me with writing a piece that reflects the oncoming quarter-life crisis, I couldn’t help but be reminded of this YouTube video, uploaded in September 2024. A montage of candid moments of nostalgia captioned with “LIFE ON EARTH” to the soundtrack of Alex G, the video is an almost uncanny display of sincerity in an internet entirely devoid of it. A moment of silence in all the madness.
I’m not really sure how exactly I’d describe the feelings I got from the video ‘in the event that you stay’, but I think this one comment puts it succinctly:
i will always hate the internet, in a way- the pain and misinformation it causes. but content like this, little pieces of people's lives, will always be a reason i love the internet. it's such a gift to be alive in the time of these little slices of others' experience of life.
There’s something I love about that, as a kid who grew up on the internet, now part of the overstimulated, meaning-starved social media generation. Because in some ways, that’s how we connect. In other ways, that’s just how we are. Lost in our own spaceships, together. Slowdancing to the theme songs of our apocalypse.
The solo piano/synthesizer ‘music for the quarter-life crisis (synth étude)’ serves as a prelude to this work. You can catch both at Wigmore Hall in April 2025. Tickets are available here.

'IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY' was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society as part of its 2025 Composers Programme. The piece will be premiered in April 2025 at Wigmore Hall, London, by Temporal Harmonies Inc, alongside 'music for the quarter-life crisis' and music by Ashkan Layegh.
Performers:
Flute - Lydia Walquist
Cello - Mikolaj Piszczorowicz
Piano - Xiaowen Shang
World premiere 19 April 2025 at Wigmore Hall, London.
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Interested in performing this work or perusing a score? Get in touch!