Chelsea Komschlies' End-of-Year Updates
I can’t believe it’s December already. The Christmas decorations are up, festive music is on in the house, and the fridge is stocked with Oat Nog. Certain staples such as Muppet Christmas Carol have been watched (which may or may not have been an annual tradition since long before we had kids). Geoffrey and I still must complete our December tradition of getting slightly trashed while watching Die Hard.
By the time you read this, I will have finished another short orchestral piece, Microsensorium, written for the kids of the LO’s MakingMUSIC series in March and accompanied by an AI video I created (see stills from the video, above). The piece unfolds as five micro-scenes, each carrying a multisensory essence—visual, temperature, color, tactile—that I’ve tried to translate into sound. It’s meant to be light and playful. The work sits at the intersection of my own synesthesia and intuition, shared cultural memories and nostalgia, and crossmodal correspondences—the science of sensory connections we broadly agree on (for example, what sounds feel “cold” or “warm,” or which timbres feel bright and colorful versus dark and coarse). Crossmodal correspondences are also the focus of my Ph.D. research at McGill, so this piece feels especially close to home.
As I shared in my previous post, the past couple of months have been challenging, to say the least. I’ve just passed the one-month mark of being on insulin, and while I wouldn’t say I feel good yet, my mind and body are beginning to function again, and I can finally see a path forward. I won’t lie; the first two weeks of treatment were fairly hellish, but by early December, I was able to start working and writing again, at first in short sessions. I’m also easing back into lifting weights after being too weak to do so for a while, and I’ve continued adult ballet classes at the Louisville Ballet School, which has been fun.
Right now, I’m focused on finishing Microsensorium calmly and efficiently so I can prepare to dive into my largest orchestral project to date—more on that soon.
In other good news, I’ve recently signed with management at Blu Ocean Arts. I’m deeply grateful to Michael and Helen Henson for believing in me and my work, and I’m excited to take this next step.
January will bring orchestral performances with the Winnipeg Symphony (A Hidden Sun Rises) and the American Composers Orchestra (The Sunken Cathedral), and I’ll be in attendance for the New York performance. The LO will be reading new pieces by Anthony Green and myself at the beginning of January, which I’m looking forward to. I’ve also been invited to do some work again for Star Trek on their upcoming cruise, which should be a lot of fun.
I wish everyone a gentle end to the year—happy holidays, and time to rest and recuperate before 2026. See you in the New Year!
-Chelsea Komschlies, Active Creator in Residence