MUSIC FOR THE QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS
(SYNTH ETUDE)
quarter life crisis music
quarter life crisis century
quarter life crisis everything
quarter life crisis scary
quarter life crisis terrified
quarter life makes me sad
and i’m scared of what might happen
and i’m scared the world is ending
and i’m scared that there is nothing i can do
and i know that this won’t make a difference
and i know what i do is not important
in the grand scheme of things
but i’ll do it anyway
cause when it feels like we’re staring armageddon in the face
the best you can do is be yourself.
This is about the anxiety of going into 2025, being scared and overwhelmed all the time, and not really knowing whether anything you do actually makes a difference.
I still don't know and I still don't have the answers, so I wrote a song about it.
This piece serves as concert opener and a prelude for my trio, IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY. You can catch both at Wigmore Hall in April 2025. Tickets are available here.

'music for the quarter-life crisis (synth étude)' 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 Xiaowen Shang of Temporal Harmonies Inc, alongside trio IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY and music by Ashkan Layegh.
Performers:
voice, piano, synthesizer - 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!