As I was scrolling through my Bluesky feed around the beginning of the 2026, there were quite a few “good riddance to 2025” sentiments.
Of course, this is understandable. We are, not to sugarcoat it, living in a shitty time in US history. But as I was reflecting on my life and career this past year in preparation for this newsletter, I came to a surprising conclusion:
2025 was actually a pretty great year for me.
It’s strange to admit this. Typically I navigate the day to day feeling I’m not doing enough. That’s not necessarily because I don’t recognize when I accomplish something, but I have a habit of checkboxing any milestone large or small unceremoniously and then immediately moving on to the next thing with little to no self-congratulation. (Put together a performance at the World Expo in Dubai? Check. Perform on stage with New Kids on the Block? Check.)
It’s also strange to declare that 2025 was a great year personally when housed within a shitty 2025 nationally/globally. I’m fortunate enough to have not been individually targeted by our current administrations’ policies and agendas, but the fact remains that I do feel like a target. I’m Asian-American, politically progressive, and a New Orleans resident. My rights and my quality of life as a US citizen are tangibly worse by merely existing with these labels.
But my motivation to persist, create, and to forge ahead in my life comes from amplifying small victories as the foundation for a more optimistic future. Or put more simply, hope is how I fight. So while I am not burying my head in the sand regarding our current political climate, this year in review will be filtered through a personal celebratory lens as ammunition to persist in defiant hope and defy the mentality of inevitability and defeat.
Versipel New Music and Batture Contemporary
Rehearsal during Batture Contemporary – photo: Mendel Lee
Two years ago, I expressed to Stephen Montalvo that I wanted to do a nienteForte concert that was a Call For Scores targeting Louisiana composers. Stephen’s response was “nF shouldn’t do that, Versipel New Music should do that.”
That response is the origin story of both the merger/acquisition of nienteForte into Versipel New Music, my appointment as Executive Director, and the launch of Batture Contemporary, a Louisiana-focused new music festival this past September.
I’ve been the ED for six months now, and it has been a wild journey. While I and the org are still going through some growing pains, and I have a biiiig list of items I still want to check off before the end of year 1, I do feel good about the progress that I’ve been able to spearhead, and I appreciate all of the support I’ve received both within and outside of the org.
Other Professional Endeavors
SynchroLicity at the Alberta Abbey – photo: Jonathan Marrs
In addition to my duties with Versipel New Music, I’ve had a whirlwind of other projects and endeavors that made 2025 particularly busy. A few of these included:
Composition: 2025 saw two of my newest works get world premiere performances (Leaf in February and The Great Boil Escape in September), along with a performance of my marimba duet Polarities as a part of the Central Washington New Music Festival in October. Aside from that, I also started work on the new Mantra Percussion project that I talked about in my last newsletter.
SynchroLicity: I had the great fortune of being a part of
Rhythm X: In February, I accepted the role of Board Vice-President of Rhythm X. This shifted my focus on the Board from executing on specific initiatives to oversight of all of them.
Sonic Bayou Hosting LLC: In 2025 I founded a new LLC, and I’ve been focusing heavily on the set up for the past couple of months. This new company is designed as a low-profit domain hosting and web design company specifically for the arts in my region.
From the outside it may look crazy for me to be tackling so many large-ish projects, but a big part of my work and life paradigm leverages how I use different foci as palette cleansers for each other to stay productive – if I need a break from a grant application, I’ll work on some notation; if I’m struggling with a section of music I’m writing, I’ll tackle some website updates. Jumping from thing to thing helps me continually move forward in slow but steady paces.
That said, there is definitely a balancing act to ensure that nothing in my life professionally and personally is truly neglected, and while I’m confident that I haven’t gone over capacity, I think it’s important for me to recognize that I’ve hit my limit. So while 2025 ended up being primarily about growth and expansion, my mantra for 2026 is going to be “sustain” – maintain and establish a regular rhythm for the projects I’m doing and the systems I’ve built and only start something new when I finish something else.
Life.
cake from Haydel’s Bakery. Yum. photo: Mendel Lee
There was a lot to celebrate personally in 2025 – my nephews had a child, as did two of my best friends in New Orleans, and my platonic life partner got married, just to name a few. But by far, one of the strongest moments this past year was that Hannah and I turned 50 this past year, and we hosted a big party. We rented a local movie theater to put Monty Python and the Holy Grail up on the big screen, and we then had a crawfish boil/party at our house.
What was amazing about it was that out of the 50ish attendees, every age decade was represented starting with my parents in their 80s and ending with our friends’ newborn this past January. It was really special to be the conduit to bring this diverse group of local and distant friends and family together to celebrate us and each other.
And that’s really the central theme of my life. Practically all of the professional and personal decisions I make are fueled by my desire to cultivate communities, and 2025 was not only a strong showcase of my work in fostering new communities, it was also a good reminder of the existing communities I’m fortunate enough to be a part of.
So I look ahead to 2026 with humble gratefulness and a relaxed but firm determination. The US may be a dumpster fire of doom and gloom headlines, but I’m surrounded by great people and organizations that have the same if not more determination as me to remain vigilant in our defiance of that narrative being more than a blip in our history. Everyone has a right to live their best lives and diversity is our biggest strength, and the resonance of that message reinforced all around me is what actually feels inevitable to me.
Thanks for reading!
I am, as always, immensely grateful for those that are interested enough in me that they indulge these thoughts and expressions, so for those of you who made it this far – thank you. If you’re interested in supporting my continuing journey through life, there are two direct ways you can support my endeavors:
Donate to me directly!
Donate to Versipel New Music!
You can also support me by spreading the word about my work, buying my music, or just reaching out and saying hello.
