I slowly developed my compositional voice through improvisations at the piano. This is one of my earliest memories of music, and continues to be the way I compose, although the technique and the tools may have changed somewhat. I remember sitting at a piano when I was 7 or 8, knowing nothing of music, and pressing keys until the sounds made me feel good. My background as a musician began as an exploration of how sound relates to emotion. My hope is that I can bring awareness of these societal issues to my communities by supporting BIPOC, femme-identifiying, and/or queer composers, and by responsibly and ethically practicing my art with a knowledge and understanding of the struggles and barriers that these marginalized groups face. I use my art to open pathways of communication, and to reach audiences of all backgrounds, though I understand that my network and audience is shaped by white supremacy and racism built into our society as a whole. I recognize the systematic oppression of BIPOC artists that has existed within classical music for centuries, and firmly stand against racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia. In one way, I feel conflicted about promoting my work during this time, while also feeling the need to make art and to create a living for myself. Recently, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19 and the national attention brought to police brutality and systematic racism experienced by Black and Brown communities, I’ve had to reflect on my artistic practice and how to use it as a tool to support the communities of marginalized people. I understand my musical compositions as an intersection of my sometimes disparate identities and a reflection of myself at the time of creating.

For me, composition occurred naturally after a complex history of learning and experiencing music as a young, queer, trans, non-binary, jewish person. The music of a composer is shaped by a mix of personal experiences, identities, education, emotions, mental health, and/or the active and intentional exclusion of all of these.

Muramatsu flute artists