Series Imposture - for voice, flute, clarinet, and percussion (2013)

Series Imposture was inspired by the "Rosenhan Experiment," a famous experiment done to test the validity of psychiatric diagnosis. The study involved the use of pseudo-patients who faked auditory hallucinations in an attempt to gain admission to psychiatric hospitals across the United States. As a result of the experiment, all pseudo-patients were admitted and diagnosed with mild-to-serious psychiatric disorders. After admission, the pseudo-patients attempted to make a public show of their sanity, however they were unable to convince their caretakers of this. The pseudo-patients agreed to ingest antipsychotic drugs as a condition of their release. The average time that the patients spent in the hospital was 19 days, one patient remained for nearly two months. All of the patients but one were diagnosed with schizophrenia "in remission" before their release.

Throughout the piece, the voice emulates the timbral qualities of the other instruments. With its gestures contained within the rigid performance windows offered by the other instrumental performers, the voice adopts a mask which permits it to "fall in line" with the performance tendencies of the other players. As the piece develops, a growing discomfort emerges in the voice. Rosenhan’s article depicts an atmosphere of depersonalization and powerlessness, so when the voice stands to contend with its treatment, it becomes absorbed by its own imposture, reflected by the instrumentalists.

Series Imposture (2013) : voice, flute, clarinet, and percussion
for the TAK ensemble (Charlotte Mundy, Laura Cocks, Liam Kinson and Ellery Trafford)