The Music of Willow Bohlen

Willow Bohlen’s compositions draw inspiration from the many creative fields she applies herself in, which include music production, programming, writing, and game development. She strives to incorporate aspects of each into her work and particularly focuses on how music is experienced. She prides herself on her diverse creative output and enjoys exploring unfamiliar mediums and styles.

Selected Works

• She Kills Monsters (2020)

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  An original score for Heidelberg's 2020 production of She Kills Monsters.

• Pathways (2022)

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  A graphic score piece based on a large flowchart.

• havenspace (2023)

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  A fixed media piece with interactive elements.

She Kills Monsters (2020)

"She Kills Monsters" by Qui Nguyen is a drama-comedy play about a teacher named Agnes Evans discovering how little she knew about her deceased sister through her favorite hobby: Dungeons & Dragons.

When I was first given the opportunity to write music for the Heidelberg University production of this play, my immediate thought was "Classic VGM". I personally love the sounds and music of old consoles like the SNES or Genesis, and I've always wanted a chance to write some music in that style.

Pathways for Accompanied Navigator (2022)

I love flowcharts. I find them an elegant way to visualize choices and processes, and there's just something satisfying about exploring their branches. Pathways for Accompanied Navigator is my attempt at turning a flowchart into music, via the medium of graphic score. The score is a little absurd or even sarcastic at points, deconstructing the symbols of sheet music into what they truly are: shapes on a page. It's effectively a form of guided improvisation, where performers have to interpret what they see as the navigator charts a path. Each performance follows a different route, providing a unique experience each time. In a sense, Pathways isn't just one song, it's a song- generating algorithm, or perhaps even a musical game.

havenspace (2023)

I've always had an interest in exploring the format of 'performance'. My background is in electronic music, where performance doesn't really exist: the computer just produces a finished audio file. As such, I've always had the lingering question, “what can I do in a performance that I can't do with a recording?” I've come up with several answers, and Havenspace is one of them. It's fixed media but includes an interactive element that allows the audience to impact the listening experience in a way wholly unique to that performance. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure why I fixated on the name 'havenspace', but I feel that it represents a place between places, where moments converge in a fuzzy kaleidoscope of sound. This piece was originally presented with a big red button, which audience members could walk up and press. However, it works just as well with a keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen. For more info about the technical side of things, visit my Code page here.