Works

Email me at contact@aarushbothra.com to check whether these scores are available for purchase.

Upcoming Works

Facades is a piece about the juxtaposition between light and dark, and how darkness can corrupt the light. Throughout the piece, the woodwinds carry a light, colorful texture, often quite melodically driven. They dance through their material while the brass slowly corrupts them, bringing darkness to the overall piece whenever they are introduced. The piece ends on an extremely dark and somber note, a stark contrast from the bright and colorful opening. While the woodwinds are significantly brighter, it is important to mention that they are not strictly happy or joyful. The brightness feels almost facetious, playing into the idea of the facade. 

Recording: Midi mockup, with percussion recording done by me

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Based on a painting by Krista M Jones of the same name, Patchwork Rising was my first foray into writing for strings and is a study into what sorts of textures I can create when writing for an ensemble of this size. I hope to rework this piece and perform it again in April 2024. 

The main theme explored by both the painting and the music is the conflict between the individual and the collective; When do you prioritize yourself over your community? What responsibilities do you have to your community? The painting represents this by creating a patchwork of colors around a striking individual figure, in this case a bird. The patchwork, while made up of distinct, individual components, creates a whole image when you take a step back a look at the entire painting. 

I represent this in the music by taking RGB readings from different sections of the patchwork and using the hexadecimal strings to create unique pitch sets for each of the instruments. The beginning of the piece sounds extremely disjoint, but the violin eventually pokes through the texture with a soaring melody and brings everyone together into a cohesive texture by the end.

Ensemble: University of Minnesota New Music Ensemble

An untitled work in progress for percussion, music box, cello, and violin. Music box contraption was designed and manufactured by me (it's still a prototype!), along with a python script to laser cut the music box paper from a midi file. More to come soon.

Completed Projects

A short surrealist comedy about a guitarist who goes a little crazy while preparing for a big audition. Created in 2023 by student filmaker Jack Rahill with a few music cues (at 3:12 and 6:47) by me. All of the music was created electronically, using sample libraries, software instruments, and digital effects.


Spring is the story of a shepherd girl and her dog, who face ancient spirits in order to continue the cycle of life. This poetic and visually stunning short film was written and directed by Andy Goralczyk, inspired by his childhood in the mountains of Germany. 


Because the film has no dialogue, the emotions that the audience perceives are very heavily guided by the music. Since I wasn't working with the director to guide me, I had to reconstruct the emotions for each cue based on the expressions of the girl and the visuals given. This resulted in the sweeping mountain shots at the beginning being set to grandiose, spacious music, while the first shots of the winter forest were punctuated by sounds of metallic instruments and the eerie bowed marimba. 


Ensemble: University of Minnesota Percussion Ensemble 

Recorded by: Felipe Fernandez of CyanCoco Studios 

Thanks to Fernando Meza, the University of Minnesota Percussion Ensemble, and the University of Costa Rica Percussion Studio for your help in making this happen!!


Film can be found for purchase here.

Originally performed in April of 2021, Caminandes Llamigos came about after I scored this same film for a competition, using only piano and percussion. After some of my professors took notice, one of them approached me and asked me to arrange it for this ensemble.

The film follows a goofy, clumsy llama as it "battles" a penguin over the little food left in over the landscape. The music closely follows the characters' actions, starting with a light, playful melody when the characters are introduced, to a suspensful, driving clarinet melody as the llama narrowly misses a train. Enjoy the misadventures of Koro the Llama and Oti the Penguin in my score for Caminandes Llamigos!

This piece is now being arranged for Wind Ensemble, to be premeired in April 2024 by UNC School of the Arts.

Ensemble: University of Minnesota Symphonic Band

Thanks to Professor Jerry Luckhardt for giving me the opportunity to compose for this ensemble!