23 Oct Moth
Moth by Viet Cuong (b.1990) has been called “alluring” and “wildly inventive” by The New York Times. Viet Cuong holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute, and an MFA from Princeton University, and Bachelor and Master’s Degrees from the Peabody Conservatory. He is currently finishing his PhD at Princeton University. The composer describes his composition in his own words: “The ‘moth to the flame’ narrative is a familiar one. We have all seen moths in the glow of flames or stadium lights. Scientists call this phenomenon “phototaxis,” but I prefer to think of this attraction in much more romantic terms. The dusty moth, though destined to live in shadow, has an insatiable craving for the brightness of day. Drab, but elegant, nervous, but swift; his taste for the glow of the flame or the filament is dire. Perhaps he dances in the light because it holds the promise that he might be as beautiful as his favored kin, the butterfly. For only there, in its ecstatic warmth, may he spend the last of his fleeting life, and believe himself to be. Moth seeks inspiration from the dualities between light and dark, beautiful and grotesque, reality and fantasy, and the ultimate decision to sacrifice sensibility for grace.”