Momentary Encounters, the debut portrait album from Canadian composer Alex Jang, distills transience and intimacy into four quietly radical works, realized by members of Apartment House. Jang calls forth an aesthetic of close listening, where gestures - sometimes just a single sustained note or harmonics, sometimes glimmering melodic fragments - reflect on the boundary between event and non-event. The ensemble traverses clarinet, piano, violin, and cello, moving in and out of tone with pauses as considered as the music itself. In two solo pieces, Heather Roche (clarinet) and Cristián Alvear (guitar) become part of the environment, their attacks and releases spaced within the silence that frames their playing.

Jang’s writing is marked by an attention to minute detail. Small physical actions - a breath, finger glissando, bowing nuance - define the character of each piece. Rather than assert drama, the music finds intensity in restraint; every moment seems provisional, on the edge of disappearance or transformation. The ensemble’s interactions are shaped by indeterminate cues, encouraging musicians to respond to the presence of others, to accidental noise, and to the acoustic grain of the performance space. Collaboration extends beyond the written score - it is a process unfolding in each encounter.

Across almost an hour, Momentary Encounters reveals the subtle beauty of fleeting experience. The listener is drawn into a sonic field that privileges vulnerability and openness - music that reorients the ear toward silence, breath, and the fragile imprint of each gesture. The album stands as an invitation to take nothing for granted, to hear what is usually missed, and to encounter sound as a shared, momentary phenomenon.