The Art of Nuance

Music Inspiration

I first encountered Chant du Rossignol while playing the viola in orchestra. This tone-poem, composed by Igor Stravinsky and based on the fairytale, The Nightingale, by Hans Christian Andersen, depicts the triumph of nature over artifice. I reinterpreted the nightingale’s devotion and authenticity through the lens of Faisan d'Or (Golden Pheasant). The pheasant is not guided by pretense, desire, or arrogance, but by genuine talent and dedication—a common bird that symbolizes creativity, self-expression, and renewal. Its keen perception is present and deeply aware, while its vibrant colors and natural instincts reflect the simple confidence of embracing one’s true self.

The Music Inspiration

Imagine looking back upon a familiar space for the last time. Deeply layered memories awaken and move through the moment, then softly dissipate. Inspired by my childhood memories of Chopin waltzes and études, blended florals, vetiver, and light citrus create a shimmering, ethereal scent that harmoniously drifts in and out of awareness. Like a spectral phantom from the past entering the present, L’Hantise (The Haunting) recedes as sublimely as it began.

Music Inspiration

I’ve always been drawn to Debussy’s imaginative voice—fresh, fluid, and alive with watercolor harmonies and textures. Influenced by his impressionist contemporaries, yet guided by his unique use of technical precision, Knife Thrower was inspired by his visit to the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1889. Debussy was mesmerized by the Javanese gamelan orchestra. These new cyclical rhythms and pentatonic harmonies began to make their way into his compositions. I reimagined him walking through a tapestry of new sounds at the moment this new musical discovery illuminated his inspiration.

Music Inspiration

I was captured by composer Cécile Chaminade's piece ‘L’Ondine (Water Sprite). Its light melody is layered over arpeggiated figures in the bass—which gives the impression of water—while a choral-like harmonic progression projects sanguine curiosity. I was inspired to create a fragrance based upon Chaminade's story as a female composer in the male-dominated world of 19th-century France. Lutin Errant (Wandering Sprite) is my interpretation of a buoyant spirit courageously and mischievously venturing from what’s familiar and customary into the unknown.

Music Inspiration

In the opera Lulu, composer Alban Berg used twelve-tone musical serialism to mirror the passion and duality of the opera’s protagonist. I imagined this enigmatic femme fatale getting ready for the evening. Amidst a powdery mist, her wooden vanity is littered with pearls, compacts, and a bar of frothy floral soap. Each gesture, deliberate yet impulsive, mirrors the tension between artifice and authenticity, vulnerability and confidence. Le Bain de Lulu (Lulu's Bath) is a tribute to the harmony of contrasts.

The Music Inspiration

At seventeen, performing with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, I played the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. This is a piece whose sweeping chords capture a main character's awakening strength after experiencing a youth of unrequited love. Inspired by themes of transformation, I created Mischa to embody the journey from besotted, youthful despondence to confident grace.