The composer has written about her piece:

     This brief one-movement work for string orchestra is a play on imagery of   
     rapidly changing musical colors.  Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle
     fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape.  A
     common definition of a starburst—“the rapid formation of large numbers of new
     stars in a galaxy at a rate high enough to alter the structure of the galaxy
     significantly”—lends itself almost literally for the performing ensemble who
     premieres the work, the Sphinx Virtuosi, and I wrote the piece with their
     dynamic in mind.

Since the premiere by the Detroit-based Sphinx Virtuosi, Starburst has become one of the most frequently performed American orchestral works of the last decade.  In barely over three minutes, Montgomery packs quite a wallop with her perpetually moving string melodies, always keeping us on the edge of our seats.