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559322bk HuangRuo:559317 bk Schuman 18/12/06 3:38 PM Page 4 Huang Ruo MERICAN LASSICS Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo was born in Hainan Island, China in 1976, the year the Chinese A C Revolution ended. Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, when China was steadily opening up its gate to the Western world, Huang Ruo received both traditional and western education in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at age twelve. Witnessing the dramatic cultural and economic changes in China, his education ranged from Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, Lutosławski, to Beatles, rock n’ roll, heavy metal, and jazz, all of which were allowed to enter cultural life in China approximately the same time after the culture revolution. All these ‘new’ western influences enable HUANG RUO him to absorb them without any hierarchy and limitation of styles. Huang Ruo moved to the United States in 1995. (b. 1976) He earned a B.M. degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a M.M. degree from the Juilliard School, where he is now pursuing his D.M.A. degree and studies with Samuel Adler. Hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “strikingly assured”, Huang’s music has been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch, Chamber Concerto Cycle the Juilliard Symphony under James Conlon, the American Composers Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies, the ASKO Ensemble, the Nieuw Ensemble, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as by violinist (2000–2002) Cho-Liang Lin and cellist Jian Wang. He has also collaborated with the New York City Ballet and choreographers Damian Woetzel and Christopher Wheeldon. The International Contemporary Ensemble’s concert of the four chamber concertos at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre was one of New York Times critic Allan Kozinn’s International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) “Top Ten Classical Moments of 2003”. Huang Ruo is also a noted author and lecturer; his book, A Selection of Classic Chinese Folk Songs, was published by the Zhong Shan University Press. For more information about Huang Ruo, conductor Huang Ruo, please visit www.huangruo.com. International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is a uniquely structured chamber music ensemble comprised of dynamic and versatile young performers who are dedicated to advancing the music of our time. Through innovative programming, multimedia collaborations, commissions by young composers, and performances in nontraditional venues, ICE brings together new music and new audiences. ICE was founded in 2001 by Claire Chase and Huang Ruo, and has rapidly established itself as one of the leading new-music ensembles of its generation, winning first prize in the 2004-05 Chamber Music America/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, and performing over sixty concerts a year in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. A champion of music by emerging composers, ICE has given over 400 world premieres to date, and has performed the music of young composers from fifteen different countries. More information on the ensemble can be found at www.iceorg.org. Photo by Benjamin Newton 8.559322 4 559322bk HuangRuo:559317 bk Schuman 18/12/06 3:38 PM Page 2 Huang Ruo (b.1976) The Italian word concerto means bringing together; Searching…and searching… Chamber Concerto Cycle (2000–2002) traditionally, it has been used to describe works in Seeking…and seeking… which individual lines, instrumental or vocal, are So chill and so clear, Yueh Fei: Divergence: assembled into a harmonious whole. My concerto cycle Dreary, and dismal, and forlorn. Concerto No. 1 for Eight Players (2000) 18:15 Concerto No. 3 for Five Players (2001) 10:32 focuses not only on individual instruments but also That time of year, 1 Movement I 4:01 0 Movement I 4:09 combinations of instruments in dialogue, as well as the A warm spell—then it’s back to cold, 2 Movement II 3:30 ! Movement II 6:22 entire ensemble as a dramatic force. The cycle is linked Hard to find rest. 3 Movement III 3:53 both musically and theatrically. During each piece, Two or three cups of weak wine— Eric Lamb, flute/piccolo musicians and conductor act with body motions, sing, How can they resist the biting wind 4 Movement IV 2:37 Joshua Rubin, clarinet 5 Movement V 4:12 chant, and speak. The first two concertos are both That comes with evening? David Bowlin, violin written for eight players with the same instrumentation; The wild geese pass— Claire Chase, flute/piccolo Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello the third and fourth (for five and fifteen players That’s what hurts most— Campbell MacDonald, clarinet/bass clarinet Spencer Myer, piano respectively) complete a progression from divergence to And yet, they’re old acquaintances. David Bowlin and Alison Zlotow, violins confluence. My concertos represent the different stages Chrysanthemum petals fill the ground in piles, Wendy Richman, viola Confluence: and styles of my writing, and are a journal of my travels Haggard and damaged— Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello Concerto No. 4 for Fifteen Players (2002) 15:31 in the Eastern and Western worlds, looking also towards As they are now, who could bring herself to pick them? Spencer Myer, piano @ Movement I 2:52 the future. At the window, alone— David Schotzko, percussion # Movement II 5:58 How can I brace myself against the encroaching dark? $ Movement III 2:00 Yueh Fei: Concerto No. 1 is based on the epic story of an The plane tree, and on top of that the drizzling rain, The Lost Garden: % Movement IV 4:41 ancient folk hero and poet of the Song Dynasty named On until dusk, Concerto No. 2 for Eight Players (2001) 19:19 Eric Lamb, flute/piccolo Yueh Fei (A.D. 1103-1141). One of his poems, “Man The dripping drop after drop, 6 Movement I 3:04 Joshua Rubin, clarinet Jian Hong”, was later set as a folk song which was sung These things, this moment, 7 Movement II 6:25 Rita Mitsel, oboe in ancient China. I divided this song into several parts, How can one word—“sorrow”—say it all? 8 Movement III 4:57 Edward Parsons, bassoon and put them into different movements of the piece. 9 Movement IV 4:53 Gareth Flowers, trumpet Confluence: Concerto No. 4 is a summation and Claire Chase, flute/piccolo/alto flute Theodore Primis, horn The Lost Garden: Concerto No. 2 paints an imaginary continuation of the musical ideas brought to life in the Campbell MacDonald, clarinet/e-flat clarinet Timothy Albright, trombone world, full of joy and sorrow. In this garden, one can previous three works – a meeting point of chaotic David Bowlin and Alison Zlotow, violins David Bowlin and Alison Zlotow, violins find one’s lost memories, or one can bury them; one can dreams, pastoral landscapes, death, funerals, life, and Maiya Papach, viola Maiya Papach, viola feel the wind and hear the birds’ singing, knowing that dance. Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello Katinka Kleijn, cello these things will never sound the same again. Spencer Myer, piano Randall Zigler, bass The world première of the cycle was given by the David Schotzko, percussion Jacob Greenberg, piano Divergence: Concerto No. 3 ends with the players International Contemporary Ensemble at the Miller Bridget Kibbey, harp reading an ancient poem, “Sheng Sheng Man” (Sounds Theatre of Columbia University on February 8, 2003. Adam Sliwinski, percussion Ever Slow), by Li Qing-Zhao, a woman poet of the Song Dynasty. Huang Ruo 8.559322 2 3 8.559322.