Premiered Works

Premiered 2024

could you stay

Premiered at the 2024 National Flute Association (NFA), this piece is a dedication to nostalgia of a lost loved one. What if you stayed? What if in the moment that they were turning their back to you, they stopped to stay? Maybe things would have turned out differently or maybe they would have turned out quite the same. Unfortunately, we are unable to experience the divisions of decisions that the people in our lives take. Whether they are romantic or platonic, the memories will still exist. You may hear their voice and turn your head or pass a field of flowers that reminds you of them.

Premiered 2024

pages

is this it?

As part of Dr. Andre Chiang's, Professor of Voice at UNLV, effort to commision new work from under-represented composers, Chiang commissioned these works for his album "Choice Pages". "Pages" and "Is this it" are part of a large song cycle written for Chiang that explores the story of a young man dealing with his experience of unrequited love. Both pieces are set in the first half of the cycle where the main character is falling deeply in love for a woman. They are light hearted and try to encapsulate the naivety of adolescent love.

Premiered 2024

if i dreamed to love them

Through a combination of voice recordings from colleagues, layered synths, and flute, this piece strings together a soundscape that takes the audience through a journey through the lens of a person struggling to confide in their loved ones.

Premiered 2023

New Moon Lullaby

Premiered 2023

Tanzer (to dance)

The word Tanzer is the German verb for dancing. Dance has many forms and can hold unique significance in different cultural contexts. This piece similarly uses the flexibility of the woodwind instruments to create lucid soundscapes that are constantly shifting yet fleeting.

Premiered 2023

Heartbreak Cacophony

This dramatic piano solo is meant to capture how a single unprovoked thought can create a maelstrom within one’s mind. Heartbreak starts with a single word and quickly consumes us in despair.

Premiered 2023

Catharsis Oboe Suite

This is an Oboe and Piano suite written for OSU oboist Rebecca Cohen. Each movement is meant to aurally capture a strong human emotion and elicit those feelings.

Premiered 2023

Prisma

Upon collaboration with Percussionists Gatz and Mida, this solo piano piece was transformed into a percussion duet. Prisma is meant to evoke a colorful soundscape filled with light-hearted chordal shapes and jazz-esque melodies.

Premiered 2023

Heartstrings

Heartstrings is a piece about human connection. “Love” is always at the forefront of culture. We search for it our entire lives and can find it in many forms. We seek comfort in this strange phenomenon and hope to build a life with “Love” as our foundation. However, it can also destroy us just as easily. Should we stop loving as people… in fear of the pain of rejection or loss? Certainly not. This piece hopes to capture the double-edged sword of this notion of “Love” and bring comfort in the vulnerability we must have as people. This piece is dedicated to Dr. Anné-Marie Condacse.

Premiered 2023

This short piece for flute and piano is a nostalgic pass at a solo piano piece Malhotra learned growing up. It is meant to evoke the mysterious presence of a chilly night in the Wintertime when the moon shines brightly in an otherwise dark sky.

Premiered 2023

Come Away Death

This text is from William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Its most common art song setting is by Roger Quilter. This is a reimagination of the piece with a desire to add more modern drama that is available in the contemporary harmonic palette.

Premiered 2023

She Said…

This work is a part of Musical Theatre song cycle called Forgotten Days commissioned by Dr. Andre Chiang. This song opens Act II as our character has been shockingly rejected by the love of his life and grapples with confusion and anger.

Composition
Performances

Composition Recordings

Malhotra has had the wonderful opportunity to work with many artists and collaborators when premiering his music. Below just contains a few of those special moments!