THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents the
22nd Biennial Festival of New Music
Matinee Concert (a)
featuring works by Neeley • Peck • Villane • Uhm
Friday, January 30, 2026 10:10 a.m. | Opperman Music Hall
web_2 (2025)
Filament (2019)
Ian Guarraia and Will McCoy, vibraphones fixed media
Miniscope Multimedia Project (2025)
Miniature Birds (2022)
I. Train of the Peacock
IV. Crested Owl
V. Wind-Up Bird
VIII. Great Eared Nightjar
IX. Swallow-tailed Kite
Ancel “Fritz” Neeley
Charles Peck
Bailey Bryant, violin
SiHyun Uhm fixed audio and video
Nicholas Villane
Wayne Pearcy, trumpet; Quin Nardone, piano
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Written for Twin Lakes Duo Emily Salgado and Jimmy Stagnitti, web_2 is the second in a series of pieces written as a means to explore malleable systems. I’m always inspired working with patterns and I’m interested in when colliding patterns creates a sense of unique character. This piece is about webs and tangles that we create, disrupt, and take part of. To rattle off a few: The internet - Bees - Social functions - Maps - Cables - Books - Fractured glass - Spiders - Roads - Stars.
Ancel “Fitz” Neeley is a multimedia composer and percussionist from Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Michigan. His music is inspired by cinematography, screenwriting, and the intersection of technology and nature. Fitz’s works often experiment with text as a means of exploring the familiar and unfamiliar facets of human connection and communication. He has worked with Tom Sherwood and the Modern Snare Drum Competition, Cameron Leach, the IGNIS Quintet, the Michigan Music Teachers Association, the University of Michigan Concert Band, Full Gremlin Quartet, Unheard-of Ensemble, and this.is.a.tangible.space. Fitz is the artistic director and one percussionist of FLYDLPHN, a mixed chamber sextet based in southeastern Michigan dedicated to commissioning and electroacoustic performance. He also performs with his percussion and multimedia duo VIRID, and percussion trio Brain Pocket both of whom support the creation of new works by young, living, and underrepresented composers.
Filament is inspired by the warm orange glow of filament and the unending fountain of energy required to maintain that incandescence. The music follows the flow of the current. The piece begins with a surge of electricity and a blazing, ascending violin line. This type of insatiable, rising motion reoccurs continuously throughout the piece as the electricity continues to flow. Along the way, the filament is constantly transforming that energy into light and the violin finds a sense of both repetition and delirious restlessness amidst this process. In the end, that energy and effort resonates as a bright, vibrant glow.
Charles Peck is a composer whose music has been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, the Albany and Columbus Symphonies, Alarm Will Sound, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, the JACK Quartet, and Sandbox Percussion. Recently awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Peck has also received commissions from the Fromm Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, the McKnight Foundation, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Alarm Will Sound, the Bergamot Quartet, and Ji Hye Jung, among others. His music has been featured at a variety of venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, the Aspen and Cabrillo Festivals, the Mizzou International Composers Festival, and the Beijing Modern Music Festival. Peck is also a member of the composition faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.
Miniscope Multimedia Project explores neural activity through the integration of neuroscience and art. By processing calcium imaging data from the hippocampus CA1 and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) of a mouse brain, the project transforms complex brain functions into dynamic audio-visual experiences. Utilizing TouchDesigner, neural data is visualized in real time, with calcium traces influencing the movement, size, and shape of visual elements. The
soundscape is similarly shaped by Max MSP, where the same neural data informs musical composition, manipulating filters and dynamics to create an immersive auditory experience. Additional musical layers are composed in Logic Pro, interacting continuously with the visuals to form a feedback loop that enhances the overall presentation. This work reveals the intricate relationships between brain activity, sound, and visual art, showcasing the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration in understanding and expressing the complexities of the brain.
SiHyun Uhm is a composer, pianist, and multimedia artist based in Los Angeles and South Korea. Her work spans classical, electronic, pop, and film/game music, and she has been commissioned by National Sawdust, New Music USA, Yamaha, and the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. Honors include fellowships from the American Composers Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, and awards from “The President’s Own” Marine Band and Arts Council Korea. A UCLA Ph.D. candidate in composition, SiHyun integrates neuroscience and multimedia, recently using brain data from freely moving animals to create immersive works. She also received the Davise Grant for a conservationfocused music project. Her work has been featured by KEAMS, CEAM, MOXsonic, and others. She holds degrees from Eastman (B.M.) and Juilliard (M.M.), and a diploma from Walnut Hill School for the Arts.
Birds have been of human fascination for millennia. Perhaps it is because of their colorful plumage or their marvelous ability to fly, birds have been the subject of countless works by artists, authors, and musicians. Miniature Birds is a set of nine pieces inspired by the various personalities, behaviors, shapes, and colors of the birds in subject. The selection of the birds was picked as favorites of friends or a species that captured the imagination. Just as the pieces themselves are miniatures, a great deal was spent in imagining how these birds would behave and look if they too were miniaturized.
Nicholas Villane’s works strive to achieve energetic and goal-oriented musical journeys. Born in 1996 in California, Nicholas has resided in Florida for the past decade. His music incorporates broad influences shaped by the belief that music is a shared human experience, welcoming audiences regardless of musical background and knowledge. Through constant musical momentum and drive, Nicholas’s music shifts and warps motivic content, providing a sense of liveliness within a concise and cohesive form. Nicholas has had works read and recorded by members of Victory Players, Ensemble C Barré, Talea Ensemble, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Icarus Quartet, ~Nois Sax Quartet, Momenta String Quartet, Polymorphia, and Ithaca College Percussion Ensemble. Nicholas holds a D.M. in Composition from Florida State University having studied under Dr. Liliya Ugay. He also holds a M.M. from Ithaca College, and a B.M. from Stetson University.