Haeon wrote her piece, "Divergence," at the beginning of the year at the New York Youth Symphony Composition Program (NYYS) with the instrumentation of a string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello). The composition is a reference to the famous Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken,” and the storyline is based on the idea of facing two different paths and eventually choosing the “road less traveled by.” 

"Writing music is a lot like writing words in the sense that structure, imagery, creation, and meaning are always there—what I particularly love about the former, though, is its universality," says Haeon. "I think competitions help me remember that music is for the world and not only for myself. I'm always happy to know there are others out there who appreciate my music." 

We hope you enjoy the accompanied video recording of the piece performed by the Grammy-nominated New York based string quartet Aizuri Quartet.

Haeon will be advancing to the divisional level in December. We wish you luck!

Story contributed by student Haeon Lee, Music Department Co-Chair Bill Solomon, and Middle/High School Music Teacher David Morgan