This thesis consists of a chamber-staged composition for soprano, baritone, modified Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello), Colombian tiple, and fixed media, together with an analytical paper in which I discuss my compositional techniques and their historical antecedents. The composition is an interpretation of an acute schizophrenic episode of a young female patient that is committed to a mental health facility. It was inspired by the need to bring awareness about mental illness and the struggles that these patients experience every day. In this work, I explore the inclusion of a folkloric instrument, the Colombian tiple, within a classical chamber ensemble to expand the color and timbre of the sound world of the composition. In addition, I use different compositional techniques including set theory, unordered pitch collections, and choral-like polyphonic texture. The work is composed in a twenty-first century expressionistic style.
