Dear Princeton faculty, thank you taking the time review my portfolio. I have included four compositions and I recommend you listen in the order they are listed. Click on the image of the score and you will be linked to a PDF of the score.

Songs of Seasons of Coffee

duration: 14’

instrumentation: tenor voice, violin, bassoon, piano and percussion.

program notes: Songs of Seasons and Coffee is a cycle of four songs using poetry by Peggy Gilbert, my grandmother. I composed this piece for Front Porch an ensemble at the University of Michigan. Here are the time codes and page numbers for the beginning of each movement:

I. Why Coffee in Seattle (page 2) 0:00

II. Warning (page 10) 4:00

III. Mutability - an October Lesson (page 19) 7:47

IV. Jack and the Beanstalk (page 27) 11:45

Songs of Seasons and Coffee by Brendan McMullen text by Peggy Gilbert Shohei Kobayashi - tenor Benjamin Jackson - violin Matthew Wildman - bassoon Karalyn Schubring - piano Jacob Rogers - percussion

Harbor Locks

duration: 8’

instrumentation: orchestra

program notes: Harbor Locks is inspired by various sounds often heard in the Northwest, including the sound of a distant ship’s whistle interspersed throughout the piece. The piece begins with a placid chord in the strings while the winds and brass begin to appear out of this texture. This tranquil texture transitions to a section of building energy until the piece arrives at a wall of sound in the brass and the sound of the ship’s horn returns much more definitively. This piece is an homage to my experience growing up in the Northwest and the characteristic sounds of this part of the world.

Illusory Truth

duration: 3’

instrumentation: carillon and electronics

program notes: Illusory Truth was composed for Tiffany Ng and premiered on the Rockefeller Memorial Carillon at the University of Chicago. The title comes from the psychological phenomenon known as the illusory truth effect, the tendency for people to remember a piece of information as truth after being repeatedly exposed to this information even without evidence.

Illusory Truth by Brendan McMullen performed by Tiffany Ng on the Rockefeller Memorial Carillon at the University of Chicago.

Dog Claws

duration: 5’

instrumentation: saxophone, electric guitar, piano and percussion

program notes: Dog Claws was written for New York based ensemble Hypercube. The piece is based on building energy and abrupt transitions between ideas.

Dog Claws by Brendan McMullen performed by Hypercube