flute, bass clarinet, violin, and cello

Duration: 6 minutes and 30 seconds

Program note:

White Picket Fence explores the unraveling of the American Dream, focusing on the isolation and disconnection felt in 21st-century suburbia. While the white picket fence has long symbolized stability and success, it also becomes a kind of mockery, an emblem of an ideal that remains out of reach for many.

Growing up, my family moved often due to financial strain, making it difficult to build any real sense of community. I believe this is a shared experience for many within the American middle class: a constant search for belonging in places that never quite feel like home.

Throughout the piece, brief moments of consonance emerge as temporary acceptances of reality, the fleeting “ups” within a larger cycle of instability. These passages represent small moments of clarity and peace, where one finds comfort in their circumstances, both figuratively and literally. Ultimately, White Picket Fence reflects the search for one’s own version of stability and success, distinct from the idealized version promised and often denied by that iconic fence.