Chromatic Circles was presented as Tony Wagner's final work at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna on January 15th 2026 at the Academy's Prospekthof in Vienna.

The subject of Chromatic Circles – Cycle 1 is a sonic topography, drawn through the systematic and chromatic shifting of four cello voices, unfolding a dense fabric of harmonies, dissonances and floating overtones. The four voices build clusters, rise and fall in half-step increments, cross and intertwine, and ultimately return to the starting points of the other voices.

A graphic score was developed specifically for this piece. Its system consists of four concentric circles, each made up of the five staff lines of classical musical notation. The notes orbit like planets around an imaginary center, rising and falling in half-step increments. The score is designed so that the composition can potentially be played infinitely and to be read and deciphered like a map of land or stars.

The focus of the performance and the live sound is the exploration of a collective, site-specific Deep Listening, in which the architectural resonance space is understood as an integral, co-composing actor.

The space chosen is utilized in this work for its natural reverberation and unique acoustics. Audience, performers, and space together form a collective Listening Entity.