In early June 2013, security infrastructure analyst Edward Snowden leaked numerous classified documents detailing the comprehensive global surveillance programs and tactics carried out by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the U.S. and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in the U.K.  This revelation prompted widespread and heated concern over U.S. and British governmental policies in the bulk collection of private communications and internet data of citizens and foreign nationals as a means to counteract terrorist activities at home and abroad.  Surveillance State for soprano, alto saxophone and live electronics, op. 10, takes as its subject the impact of massive government surveillance on the condition of American Idealism, specifically in matters of the individual’s right to personal freedom and privacy, in the years following the events of 9/11.

Part 1: Snowden / Interlude: Sacrifice Liberty / Part 2: Scherzo – The Fourth Amendment / Epilogue: The Leviathan