Goddess//Insect

Work Overview

Concerto for violin and percussion quartet
Duration: 22 minutes
Premiere: Kristin Lee and Sandbox Percussion on March 6 & 7, 2026 through Emerald City Music
Commissioned by:
Emerald City Music, Constellation Chamber Concerts, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, and Newport Classical, with generous support from the ECM Commissioners’ Circle.
Written for violinist Kristin Lee and Sandbox Percussion

Program Note

Goddess//Insect is derived from the term “God-Bug Syndrome” where a “god complex” (inflated self-importance) acts as a defense against deep-seated feelings of worthlessness. I believe our world right now is facing these conflicting emotions, and so this work is ultimately a work that reflects our turbulent and chaotic times.

This piece explores so many sounds that the term embodies—little critter sounds against soaring lines of the violin, an improv section that is more dance-like and free, chromatic lines and rustling textures to embody the scurrying creatures. I see Goddess//Insect as a violin concerto of sorts, but in a more adventurous vein, as a percussion orchestra forms the backdrop for this setting. There is an inherent theatricality in the sound world I am seeking to explore, and so, as part of the process of composition, I worked with the performers to maximize the use of spatial possibilities in the room, placement of instruments, and movement of performers.

The work is in one movement with multiple sections described by their subtitles: “Arachnid Procession,” “Insect Scurrying and Searching,” “Nature Rustling,” “Junkyard Gamelan with Insect Intrusions,” “Goddess Inner Circle,” “Cadenza,” and finally “Rage with Fire Ants.”

The work is written specifically for violinist Kristin Lee and Sandbox Percussion and commissioned by a national US consortium of presenters.

— Vivian Fung