Katherine Balch (1991-Present)

Introduction
Balch was born in 1991. She is currently the Composer-in-Residence with the California Symphony through 2020. Her music has been commissioned and performed around the world.

Work Analysis
I chose to analyze New Geometry by Balch. This piece is written for an orchestra. It was written in 2015 so it is one of the newest pieces from her. The piece sounds extremely mathematic and uses harmonies that are dissonant. The harmonies create this emotion in the piece as well as the percussion doing its own thing.

Comparisons​​​​​​​
It sounds Stravinsky-esque in the sense that it is almost completely atonal and it doesn't really follow any patterns or meter from what I can hear. It is also almost like Ives in the sense that it is almost written freely and without any imperative direction.

Observations
I was not a big fan of this piece. I just sounded like an atonal mess to me. I felt it had no direction and I didn't feel like this piece is a work that should be praised.