Practical Considerations by Mark Kim-Mulgrew

Practical Considerations is my debut album, collecting five chamber music pieces I composed between late April and early October of 2025.

The idea to work on a studio album came to me in late July, when I had just returned from a composition workshop in Berlin with hope and excitement. Emboldened by the encouragement I received at the workshop, I gave myself the deadline of mid-November to put together an album and a concert. I had not known much about the requisite logistical details, and, unsurprisingly, a few frantic months followed. Much of the composition work was done in August and September; the musicians were sourced largely in September; rehearsals and recording sessions took place in October.

The album title refers to the theme of wrestling with impractical situations present throughout the album: falling in love with a phantom, attempting to explain the unexplainable, trying intentionally to merge ideas that don't necessarily work well together, and even the way I approached this very album project.

Musically, I aimed to be a student of clarity, keeping in mind the three groups of audiences: the listeners, the performers, and the composers. I, of course, wanted to have an interesting compositional experience for myself, and so I strove for a diversity of formal approaches throughout the project. Nevertheless, I consciously prioritized the practical considerations throughout my compositional process: What do I want the listeners to get out of this piece? Am I creating a piece that is enjoyable to perform, or, at the very least, avoids being needlessly annoying? Is there a simpler way to execute my compositional intent without sacrificing what the listeners will get out of this piece?

To effectively interface with such questions, I needed to get out of my own head. I am grateful to have had an opportunity to work with incredible performers, who taught me more about music composition in one short month than any textbook ever could. A few friends, musicians themselves, also provided me with listeners' perspectives, patiently checking out many of my drafts and offering helpful feedback. Working with my composition teacher throughout the project helped me gain a more objective composer's perspective on the pieces and steer me away from ineffective choices. All of this is to say I have received more help than I could have hoped for, often on extremely short notice: any rough edges here are mine and mine alone.

While I have written program notes for every piece here, I decided against distributing them alongside the album. It's not that they're secrets: any concert I have of these pieces will include them, in keeping with the usual expectations. But, throughout this project, I pondered on the notion of music as technical communication. The success of a communication attempt is determined not by the communicator but the recipient. Accordingly, the music I present here is not what I say they are, but what you think they are. I hope you will let me know what they are — I care that you listen.