In composing Obligate Cycles, I was drawn to Joshua Tree National Park—not only for its rugged natural beauty but also because it sits conveniently between Phoenix (where I composed the piece) and Los Angeles (Salastina’s home). I hoped the park could serve as an initial point of connection between Salastina, their audience, and myself—some common ground from which to embark into the music. Although it began as a simple geographic link, this idea of connection quickly embedded itself in the fabric of the music as I learned about the extraordinary ecology of the Joshua Tree.

Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia)—the park’s namesake—are fairly well known, but their interspecies partner the Yucca Moth (Tegeticula yuccasella) less so. Together, they exemplify “obligate mutualism:” a relationship so interdependent that each species cannot complete its life cycle without the other. The moth is the tree’s sole pollinator, and in turn, the tree provides the only sufficient sustenance and habitat for the moth’s larvae. While an individual in either species could live out its life independently, the species as a whole could not persist without one another.

Just as Joshua Trees and Yucca Moths depend on each other, the four short movements of Obligate Cycles—which I call “Phases”—rely on one another to create balance, contrast, and to sustain the core theme across the full duration. That theme, a simple three-note motif introduced in its purest form by the cello at the very beginning, underpins dramatically different musical material in each phase. Throughout the work, this thematic kernel is continuously deconstructed, reassembled, and recontextualized by all four instruments—becoming newly energized through each transformation—emulating how the Joshua Tree and the Yucca Moth persist in a shared cycle of renewal despite living vastly different lives. In this way, Obligate Cycles is a reflection on the endless possibilities that emerge through connection in music, nature, and life.