The title Artifact refers to three specific definitions: 1.  An object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, weapon, or ornament of archaeological or historical interest. 2.  Something viewed as a product of human conception or agency rather than an inherent element. 3.  A structure or feature not normally present but visible as a result of an external agent or action, such as one seen in a microscopic specimen after fixation, or in an image produced by radiology or electrocardiography.  (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000) Music is an object of human craft, both on the part of the composer and performer, and is thus dependent on human conception for its existence.  More significantly, however, music is an agent through which “artifacts” of human self-awareness – those always present under the surface, but often concealed – may rise to the surface.  Thus, Chaconne represents craft of historical interest, in this case the consideration of which is colored by my own existence in time far removed from the historical conventions of chaconne.  Conduit represents the passageways of human conception through which musical objects exist.  The emphasis is thus on the artificial organization of natural elements.  Ecstatic represents a state of being, always present with us, but which often only surfaces by means of an agent (in this case, hopefully, the music itself).  And whereas the soul of man and, by extension, its experiential states are eternal, the music stops rather than concludes – hopefully offering a window through which we may see (experience) our humanness as an extension of…