• Abstract and Figures
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Diana Schwam, soprano Chuanyuan Liu, countertenor Ryan McCullough, piano A virtual concert exploring the Asian and Asian-American experience through story and song. This program encapsulates the Asian-American experience and highlights Asian and Asian-American composers, creating a space to question and discover the ambiguities of our identities through story and song. REJECTION This Land Is Your Land Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) Woody Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his American folk music I will learn to love a person and then I will teach you and then we will know Chris Cerrone from I will learn to love a person (Lin) (b. 1984) Tao Lin is a Chinese-American novelist and poet Now Close the Windows Ke-Chia Chen from Three Frost Songs (2011) (b. 1979) Ke-Chia Chen is a Taiwanese-American composer Where Would I Go (2020, World Premiere) Dante De Silva (b. 1978) Dante De Silva is a Filipino-American composer REALIZATION Diamond Impressions Chihchun Chi-sun Lee from Sentiments (1996) (b. 1970) Chihchun Chi-sun Lee is Taiwanese-American composer Smoke and Distance (Lowell/Aldington) Tonia Ko (b. 1988) Born in Hong Kong and raised in Hawai’i, composer Tonia Ko now lives in London Sa Ugoy ng Duyan (Celerio) Lucio San Pedro (1913-2002) Lucio San Pedro was a Filipino composer and teacher Yu Meiren Jiasheng Zhou Shuidiao Getou (b. 1950) Jiasheng Zhou is a Chinese-American pianist and composer ACCEPTANCE 1. To— Bun-Ching Lam 3. To— (b. 1954) from Last Love Songs (1995) Bun-Ching Lam is a Chinese-American composer High Window (1996) Jo Kondo (b. 1947) Jo Kondo is a Japanese composer and member of the American Academy Bulakak lyrics by Jason Darrow/music by Gilbert Bécaud Arr. by George Canceso George Cancesco was a Filipino composer (1934-2004) To the Thawing Wind Ke-Chia Chen from Three Frost Songs (2011) Oh, Shenandoah Trad., arr. Ryan McCullough (b. 1987) PROGRAM NOTES Since a collective of Asian and Asian-American composers and poets are featured in this concert, we thought it would be worthwhile to share a bit about each piece and its origin, and how it has found its place in this concert. Woody Guthrie wrote this This Land Is Your Land in his room at the Hanover House Hotel in New York in 1940. Guthrie wrote this in response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.” It is one of America’s most famous folk songs and is used as a representation of America. This song is a song many of us heard, if we grew up in the States, and it brings into question the emotional and physical acceptance of America being a land that is our land as well. Is this land really our land? Has this land really been made for you and me? Chris Cerrone’s song cycle I will learn to love a person is set to poems by Tao Lin. Cerrone composed this cycle in 2013 with the idea of creating a work that mirrors the beautiful and strange experience of growing up at the turn of the century. Lin’s poetry from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (2008) embodies simplicity at its finest. The poet Jennifer Moore discusses Lin’s poetry as being a part of the “New Sincerity” movement. This type of poetry is defined as being direct, self-doubting, emotional, and stripped down. With the ambiguity of this type of poetry and our identities as Asians or Asian-Americans, Diana feels as if this piece is almot autobiographical. She constantly is living in a limbo, feeling neither here nor there, and as a result, she experiences an overwhelming sense of isolation. This movement in Cerrone’s cycle shows how a contemplative and thought-provoking monologue of a young woman yearning for others to listen to her and hear her cries. Now Close the Windows, the first piece from Ke-Chia Chen’s Three Frost Songs, captures one’s preparation for a rainstorm: how one would want to shut off everything they think is bad to achieve a moment of safety. That feeling is interestingly universal, and especially when we question our identities or try extra-hard to fit in a new cultural environment. Chen paints the action with great contrast between the peaceful moments— before the storm and after the window is closed—and the dark and intense motion of the wind. The world premiere of Where Would I Go by Dante De Silva portrays the sacrifices made by Dante’s Filipino family (and similar families) when family members move halfway around the world in search for a better life. The emotional toll on the ones moving away is drastically different than the emotional toll on the ones left behind, although all parties are filled with loneliness and uncertainty. Where Would I Go deals with the sadness of a young man who has moved away and the sacrifice of the mother he has left behind. Diana and Chuanyuan both resonate with this text in how they have both felt worlds away from their Asian heritage during their time in the States. Feeling alone and uncertain in their Asian identities has given both of them emotional and physical burdens. They are honored to premiere De Silva’s piece in this concert. Sentiments is a song cycle written by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee in direct collaboration with the poets based on different aspects of human emotion. In Diamond Impressions, lyricst Bob Janes paints the story of the “girl of yellow diamonds”—a stained-glass window of a deli shop and how the beautiful shadow of the girl on the floor moves as the sun changes positions throughout the day. However, as the focus changes at the end of the day from the shadow to the actual window. That same girl, who we think is the perfect, most ideal version of it all, is in fact not what we think she actually is. Lee references the Cool Jazz Ballad style of the 1950s and ‘60s, and to Chuanyuan, both the music style and the text encapsulate the America he lived in. The beauty and the dream might just be a vision on the deli floor, and the America that one experiences is not the America one expects. Tonia Ko’s Smoke and Distance comprises two distinct texts by Amy Lowell and Richard Aldington. They are united by the images of night, the color blue, and a reflection on a former love. Ko focuses on the intimate qualities of each text and uses the piano part to intertwine closely with the vocal line. The pianist is also asked to create his own sound inside the instrument, creating a resonance that expands into the poetic meaning of these texts. At the climax of the piece, the images collide and despite the distance, the narrator realizes that their former love has not left them but has been renewed. Diana sees this love as a misty figure of her Asian-ness: a love that she has never fully grabbed hold of and a love that seems distant. But through the blue smoke and the night, Diana realizes that the smoke does vanish and reveals more than she ever thought possible. Her identity is not a reflection but a concrete existence. Bulakak is a well-known pop song in the Philippines that has a transnational journey. The words were adapted by Filipino composer George Masangkay Canseco from “L’important, c’est la rose,” a song co-written by American composer Jason Darrow and French singer Gilbert Bécaud. Therefore, these words have traveled through many cultures and experiences, such Diana’s experience as an Asian-American. This song speaks of a beautiful flower and how that flower carries you through life’s sorrows and joys. Growing up, Diana would sing this song with her mother on their karaoke machine. She would see how her mother was comforted by these words, whether it was by the message of the song or by singing in Tagalog, she saw how she was comforted. Usually, they would sing this song as a duet at Filipino gatherings but for this concert, Diana will be singing Bulakak on her own. She dedicates this one to her mom and for everything she has done for Diana to have a life in the states. Sa Ugoy ng Duyan is a Filipino lullaby that is translated as “in the rocking of the cradle.” This song was composed by Lucio San Pedro with texts by Levi Celerio. Pedro came from a musical family and ended up studying with musicians in the Philippines, Netherlands, and in New York City at The Juilliard School in 1947. Diana first heard this lullaby last year performed by one of her Filipino friends, Pauline Tan, who sang it at a concert with Aural Compass Projects. Friends like Pauline have brought Diana closer to her Filipino roots and she feels as if they are a huge part of her relationship with her Filipino-ness. This lullaby is for the people who have brought you closer to your roots. The poem Yu Meiren (虞美人) was written by Yu Li, the last emperor of Southern Tang. When he wrote the poem in 978 CE, the empire had been defeated and he had been imprisoned for almost three years. The poem highlights the pain of reminiscing about the country and life he had lost, and Jiasheng Zhou captures the contemplation with detailed subtlety and extensive piano accompaniment. A pianist himself, Jiasheng also gives the pianist a place to shine in his setting of Shuidiao Getou (水 调歌头).

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