Fine Art
Music Composition

Transmission performed 2025
-> BA Art Thesis exhibition An evolving interdisciplinary performance work exploring thought as a shared, emergent force. Combines live performer, AI, and real-time text processing to create a collective sonic consciousness. The piece investigates cognition, memory, and communication as participatory acts—where audience, performer, and machine co-author meaning.




( Seed } 
Cello, Violin, Live Electronics

Live with Playground Ensemble 2024
Examines the theme of entropy by integrating electronic textures, acoustic resonance, and the use of extended string techniques with a backdrop of experimental video. These elements coalesce to form an evolving sonic and visual landscape that supports an original poem, which delves into entropy and erosion as intrinsic processes within the natural order of the universe and ourselves. This piece explores entropy not only as a scientific principle but as an experiential phenomenon—a meditation on the gradual breakdown of structure. It reflects how, often imperceptibly, the integrity of what once was whole disintegrates, becoming unrecognizable, only to be reconstituted in a cyclical dance of order and disorder, creation and erosion. Through this lens, entropy emerges as a continuous process of transformation and renewal.

performed 2024

Read by Playground Ensemble


Demonstrating the MaxMSP patches for real-time visuals


P’rimaries composed 2024
full orchestra

P’rimaries was composed in response to the 250th anniversary of the United States, engaging not simply with national celebration but with deep reflection on what it means to seek unity in a country shaped by division. The work explores how, despite the forces of whitewashing, erasure, and separative ideologies that have long permeated American identity, there remains an underlying truth: we are all part of a greater whole. Each individual voice—whether heard, silenced, or struggling to emerge—contributes to the broader human spectrum, much like a single drop of light refracts into a rainbow.


Skin Feelings performed 2024
Ableton live, choreography

An exploration of touch and emotional freedom, guiding the audience through a reflective journey toward the discovery and acceptance of tactile sensation, while delving into the complexities of physical and emotional experience in the face of societal norms. The piece invites the audience to reflect on their own experiences of touch, questioning what feels pleasurable and uncomfortable, while exploring how society.




夢現 - Yumeutsutsu 
(Half asleep, half awake) 
Piano, pre-recorded audio

Delves into the profound experience of awakening within a dream, an exploration of lucid dreaming as a metaphor for the human journey of self-realization. The piece captures the moment of clarity when one becomes aware of their dream state, mirroring the awakening within an already awakened reality—a realization that the truths of existence lie not beyond but within and falling back asleep. The composition unfolds as a delicate interplay between structure and freedom, embodying the tension between the known and the unknown, the tangible and the ethereal. Through its fluid, dreamlike gestures, it invites the listener to step into a liminal space, where the boundaries between illusion and reality dissolve. In this state, every note becomes a portal to deeper truths, revealing the interconnectedness of all things and the beauty of being fully present in the infinite now. "夢現" is a journey not just through sound, but through the essence of awakening itself—an invitation to see the dream of life for what it is and to awaken into the boundless truth of reality.

performed 2024


Pianist Gavin Eschholtz





ephemeral pp. 11&12 
Four voices

Ephemeral pp. 11&12 is a playful exploration of 4 part voice music using vocal fry and a palette of vowel phonetics. This piece references pages 11 and 12 of an excerpt of my copy of the I Ching which discusses the K'un / The Receptive hexagram and uses the motif of ephemerality: Definitions of ephemerality. the property of lasting for a very short time.

performed 2024


Vocalists:
Bryan Lastrella
Ashley Stitt
Rafael Soto





Synesthesia

performed 2024


Peyton Brauch Junior Trumpet Recital
Live reactive programmed visuals using Processing.js & projection





Wall of tongues 
Soprano voice & clarinet

The Earth, grounded, adorned and complex, saw the beauty and vast emptiness of the Sky. Unacquainted with their own reflections, the revelation of each other's existence precipitated a confluence of abrupt emotions and sensations, marking a transformative juncture in their cosmic relationship. However, a tentative exchange unfolded between them restrained by an elusive veil, emanated from an unseen barrier woven from enigmatic threads holding them apart.There is a paradox of touch being both profoundly human and oddly forbidden which speaks to the complexities of our societal norms. The very act that has the power to heal, console, and unite is, at times, restricted, creating a palpable sense of yearning for fundamental human intimacy and communication.In the dance of touch, we discover ourselves within others and our universe. The brush of fingertips against skin, a held embrace, or standing feet in the grass echoes our vulnerability and interconnection. It is a testament that in the tapestry, we are not solitary threads but in an intertwined dance of tongues spoken through a silent conversation of closeness and being.This composition delves into various explorations using metrical structures, indeterminate notation with rhythmic symbols, and vocal articulations with the goal of expressing emotion through the color of sound and gesture. Influential composers such as Kate Soper, Ted Hearne, Philippe Leroux, and Thea Musgrave have significantly contributed to the shaping of this work and its trajectory through the influence of their innovative and exploratory approaches to composition and sonority.

performed 2023


Read by Whistling Hens



that goes by swollen tears composed 2023
small chamber

The piece explores the complexities, intricacies, and perspectives of family, emotion, and the sense of time.



private_8
Piano

Written during early private composition lessons, inspired by minimalist and post-minimalist figures including Meredith Monk and Olivier Messiaen. A piece about duality, exploring harmonic dissonance and rhythmic divergence between two imagined clocks.

performed 2023


Performed by Dawn Clement
MSU Denver Faculty




Given in sound they be when gone they think they hear

SMALL CHAMBER

Art is learning vulnerability. It's about an open heart and mind. At the beginning of the summer I discovered an untraceable lostness. I requested two 2 letter words, four 4 letter words and three5 letter words. The words which were given were:


Be, In, They, Hear, Gone, When, Sound, Think, Given

I rearranged these words to create the poem, "given in sound they be when gone they think they hear". Sometimes it is difficult to see our own faces and to experience our own reflections. The poem is a meditation on this internal journey. It has felt like a tremulous, disharmonious, internal moving echo trying to find itself. This piece is about awareness, learning, building, moving, and converging. This piece is about moving through different stages of an unceasing experience of merging, finding love, and feeling presence.

Each section describes a state of being while trying to come into balance within multiple energies. The use of #sound_and_not-sound describes the sensation of grasping while #finding_and_not-finding // #feeling_and_not-feeling. Air and breath is an integral part of our being, it keeps us aware, present, and alive but can just as easily suffocate.

We become vulnerable by allowing ourselves to seek ourselves - that is our power.

performed 2022


Performed by Playground Ensemble


The breath between us

ableton live

The Breath Within Us was composed working closely with a choreographer.

“The Breath Within Us” was performed live November 12 & 13th 2022 at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater in Denver, CO.

performed 2022


Dancers
Chrys Duran
Reese Fellman








Cass Pangell
casspangell (at) gmail (dot) com

@meditationthrumedium_ Art moving between disciplines the way light moves through glass—bending, refracting, revealing unseen contours. Working at the intersection of sound, image, and embodied experience, building systems of translation—turning thought into vibration, structure into gesture, silence into form. 

Their practice is rooted in curiosity and contradiction: code and color, rhythm and stillness, the personal and the collective. With a foundation in both music composition and visual art, Cass creates works that are neither confined to medium nor obedient to tradition, instead inviting audiences into moments of resonance, disruption, and possibility. Across orchestral scores, interactive installations, and traditional fine art, their work traces the invisible architectures of perception—and asks what emerges when we listen differently.


Musical Compositions
Transmission – AI & Voice
Premiered at the BA Art Thesis Exhibition 2025

P’rimaries – Orchestral Work
Composed for MSU Denver Symphony Orchestra 2025

( Seed } – Percussion, Violin, Cello, Live Electronics
Composed and Premiered by Playground Ensemble 2024

Skin Feelings– Ableton Live & Dance Choreography
Composed, Choreographed, and Premiered 2024

夢現 (Yumeutsutsu) – Piano
Written and performed Spring 2024

Wall of Tongues – Soprano Voice and Bb Clarinet
Composed Fall 2023, Premiered Spring 2024

that goes by swollen tears – Small Chamber
 Composed and Premiered Fall 2023

Ephemeral pp. 11&12 – 4-Part Vocal Ensemble
Composed Fall 2022, Premiered Spring 2024

The Breath Within Us – Ableton Live, Dance
Premiered 2022 at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater, Denver, CO

PRIVATE_8 – Solo Piano
Composed Spring 2022, performed by Dawn Clement (MSU Denver Faculty) Performed Fall 2023

Given In Sound They Be When Gone They Think They Hear - Small Chamber
Composed 2022, performed by Playground Ensemble


ResearchAI-Assisted Music Composition: Enhancing Creativity and Performance 
Metropolitan State University of Denver Undergraduate Research Conference
Denver, CO
2025


Non-Profit Work    Love Peace Harmony Foundation
2020 – Present | lovepeaceharmony.org
Active in over 30 countries, their projects focus on uplifting underserved communities through providing essential resources and wellness services in diverse settings, as well as environmental sustainability.

Farai Peace Foundation
2025 - Present | faraipf.org
Promoting diversity in creative arts and wellness, aiming to represent the values and traditions of youth, families, and communities. Funds from the festival will support programs like music, dance, and creative arts after-school programs, spring break and summer camps, and family retreats. The foundation believes in equity and activism, recognizing that children and their culture can transform communities and become leaders with a universal mindset.

Ubuntu Wellness Festival 
2020-2021
Festival fostering love, peace, and harmony through online-driven initiatives. Their programs emphasize diversity, equity, and access to artistic and wellness opportunities, ensuring that all people can thrive, regardless of their backgrounds.
Juried Group Exhibitions
( Seed }
BRDG Project,
Denver, CO
2024

Welcome to the Here and Now
Denver Digerati Emergent Media Festival
Denver, CO
2023

Masks Required!
Greenwave Gallery + K Space Art Studios Invitational Exhibition, 
Denver, CO 
2020



Group Exhibitions/ PerformancesMetropolitan State University of Denver BA Art Thesis Exhibition -  
Emmanuel Gallery
Denver, CO
2025

Sanguine - Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater
Denver, CO 
2024

Gradients - Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater
Denver, CO 
2022

Curiosity Corridor - MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater
Denver, CO
2022 

MetroNow - Emmanuel Gallery
Denver, CO
2022 

“Colorful Colorado” Mural -  JSSB, 3rd Floor, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO
2021 

Denver Landscapes, JSSB, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO
2020
Solo Exhibitions/ PerformancesInteractive Music Projection
Peyton Brauch Junior Trumpet Recital
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO
2023
PublicationsMetrosphere
Vol. 39 “The Vitality Issue”
2020

RED Magazine 
"Denver murals and street art: ‘walls with tongues’"
2020

Last Updated 25.5.12





"Two Sides of Real"

Photography, colored pencil, mylar

This piece examines the fractured state of identity in a digitally saturated society. The central figure stands between two constructed realities: the virtual self curated online, and the external self shaped by social vanity—both illusions within a modern matrix. Through layered transparency and opaque substrates, the work explores the process of awakening—of seeing these dual personas for what they are, and beginning to dissolve the illusion.

"Bodies in Translation"

Photography, photoshop

This series examines the body as both site and symbol—fragmented, vulnerable, defiant. Layering poetic translations over digital imagery, the work explores identity, gender, and the tension between self-perception and cultural gaze.

“Reflections”

Mixed Media
Ink print on cotton canvas and velium
3D glasses

The artist explores the invisible networks that bind individuals to one another, much like the root systems of a forest—interconnected, communicative, and interdependent. Through this lens, their work examines contemporary crises such as racism, mental illness, and spiritual disconnection, revealing how individual suffering often reflects a larger collective imbalance. Art becomes a primal gateway for philosophical inquiry, uncovering the core mystery of what it means to be human and challenging the illusion of separateness.




"Body/Text/Truth"

Photography

This body of work confronts the instability of identity and the discomfort of being seen. Text written on skin becomes both confession and label, tracing inner turmoil across exposed flesh. Through photographic performance, the series explores dysphoria, disorientation, and the shifting terrain of self—where the body becomes a question and language a fragile frame.









“Self Portrait”

Acrylic
36”x36”


“Sirfu Series"

Colored Pencil on mylar

A shirfu (or shifu) is a spiritual guide—a luminous being assigned to support one’s soul through its journey. Rendered in colored pencil on layered mylar — a presence of transformation, protection, and playful wisdom. The work invites viewers to consider the unseen forces that walk beside us.




VIDEO: Denver murals and street art: ‘walls with tongues’

As artist Carlos Frésquez adapts his Community Painting class for COVID-19 concerns, he reflects on the power of murals from the paleolithic to the Renaissance to Colorado’s Chicano Movement and beyond.
“Silenced”

Oil on canvas
36”x36”

This painting confronts the pain of being silenced in a society shaped by racism. A skeletal figure wears a crown of thorns—an echo of Christ’s suffering—painted in raw primary colors to reflect both the foundations of visual language and the reduction of identity. The image becomes a personal outcry: a stripped-down, defiant embodiment of endurance, injustice, and the cost of invisibility.“War With Somebody” 

Oil on gessoed masonite
36”x24”

A reflection of the struggle of the inner battle of karma and the perceived notion of an outer world. The two blind, yet mystical fish are representative of the yin yang elemental world of cause and effect, swimming knowingly in golden light. The male/female figure holds a shackle coming off from the arm.

                    


“Light Beings” series

Watermedia
24”x18”

Interactive Sculpture


https://3dautomaticsculpture.tumblr.com/

This interactive sculpture uses an old iPhone as a central hub, communicating with BLE beacons assigned to individual LED strands. As gallery visitors move through the space carrying a beacon, the sculpture dynamically alters its lighting behavior in response to their proximity.


RED Winter 2020 Edition
Mural feature

Metrosphere Vol. 40 “Then to Now” 



"Shen Qi Jing He Yi"

Screenprint on fabric

English translation from Chinese: "All the souls, energies, and matter of the whole body join as one." Read like an asian calligraphy and organized like the chakras in the body. Images of washed roots of potted plants as the artist explores the nature of societal constraints and the human condition.




© Cass Pangell 2025