ornithology of desire (2023) for three spatialized piccolos and electronics
ornithology of desire is a piece about birds and queer desire. In the early pandemic, I spent hours sitting inside in quarantine watching the sparrows and finches at the feeder on my front porch. I had just moved to a city where I knew no one, and I felt as alone as I had ever been. That period was defined for me by ache: desire for connection, for the outside world, and open-ended queer longing. I began to see the birds began to feel like a metonymy for this ache. (Birds have represented a lot of different things in my music — freedom, non-hierarchical collaboration, togetherness, joy.)

ornithology of desire is scored for three spatialized piccolos and electronics. Sounds move freely between the three performers and the electronics in an immersive and swirling dance. There are two musics in the piece, always entwined together. The first is the music of the birds: virtuosic, chattering, and always rising upwards. The second is the music of desire, characterized by microtonal bends which sink downwards to earth. ornithology of desire for was commissioned by InfraSound Ensemble as part of their 23/24 season.
Megan Torti performs the premiere of ornithology of desire with InfraSound Ensemble (photo by Ri Tornello)
selected performances
Apr. 2024 — CHIMEFest, University of Chicago, Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL [upcoming]        
​Nov. 2023 — InfraSound Ensemble, LGBTQ Community Center, New York, NY