DOCSLIB.ORG

Tribute to Chou Wen-Chung

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Tribute to Chou Wen-Chung Tribute to Chou Wen-chung Music by His Teacher, His Colleagues and His Distinguished Disciples Pacific Rim Music Festival 2003 Raison d’être Zhou Long came from PRC to study at Columbia University with Chou, and Zhou’s significant other, Chen Yi, soon followed. She joined him in the The two programs on this double CD were presented at the Pacific Rim doctoral program in composition at Columbia. She also served as Chou’s Music Festival in 2003 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. They were assistant at the U.S.-China Arts Exchange. Since then, Zhou and Chen have offered as part of the Festival’s tribute to Chou Wen-chung in honor of his composed prolifically and had tremendously successful careers. eightieth birthday. These twelve compositions, each by a different composer, Chou met Joji Yuasa at an Asian Music Festival in Hawaii. Chou sensed span the years from Intégrales (1925), by Edgard Varèse, to Edmund that Yuasa was different from most Japanese composers. Impressed by Campion’s Melt Me So with Thy Delicious Numbers (2002). The composers Yuasa’s enthusiasm for electronic music, Chou encouraged Yuasa’s work, —Joji Yuasa, Isang Yun, Chinary Ung, Hi Kyung Kim, Edgard Varèse, Bright supported his application for a position at the University of California at San Sheng, Zhou Long, Pablo Ortiz, Edmund J. Campion, James Tenney, and Diego, and has remained a close friend. Chen Yi—come from countries separated by many miles: Japan, South Korea, After hearing Chou’s Cursive, Chinary Ung, approached Chou hoping to Cambodia, France, the PRC, Argentina, and the United States. These works become a student. Despite Ung’s limited preparation, Chou kept the door open. were presented on two concerts (2 and 3 April 2003) during the Pacific Rim “Can you write a single melody,” Chou asked, “not relying upon any system— Music Festival at the University of California, Santa Cruz. What brought not a pentatonic melody, a twelve-tone melody, or a tonic/dominant melody, but these works together is an individual who figures prominently in the lives of a melody of pure expression and your own invention?” The test was successful. the eleven composers: Chou Wen-chung (b. 29 June 1923). Ultimately, Ung completed the composers’ program at Columbia. According to Some of these composers—Bright Sheng, Edmund Campion, and Pablo Chou, “Even today, Ung’s independence in musical thinking is outstanding.” Ortiz—had conventional relationships with Chou: They were his students at James Tenney was Chou’s first student. Tenney had not gone to college Columbia University. yet. He approached Varèse, who in turn referred him to Chou. Tenney’s In the case of Isang Yun, the details are hair-raising. Yun, among the earliest lessons were highly personalized, experimental, and exploratory. Tenney Asian composers to come to the West, began attracting attention in the 1950s. went on to complete a Bachelor’s degree at Bennington College. He had been living in Berlin but suddenly vanished; South Korean secret agents Chou’s relationship with Edgard Varèse is discussed in detail in the essay had kidnapped him. Chou joined with Elliott Carter and called upon the White on Chou. Suffice it to say that both men became deeply indebted to one House for action. They kept pressure up by participating in a panel discussion another for a wide variety of reasons. broadcast by the Columbia University radio station. Ultimately, Yun’s release As Hi Kyung Kim, the founder and Artistic Director of the Pacific Rim was won. When Chou organized the 1990 Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Music Festival has so aptly noted, the Festival programs of 2003 honor Chou Japan, Yun was one of the principal participants. Wen-chung’s life and his contributions toward communication between Hi Kyung Kim was accepted by Yun as his last student while she stayed in Eastern and Western cultures. His remarkable vision, leadership and creativity Paris (1988–90). Due to unfortunate political pressures, she was unable to are representative of the aesthetic objectives and values of the Pacific Rim complete her study with him. She got to know Chou, invited him to her Pacific Music Festival. The Pacific Rim Music Festival at the University of California, Rim Music Festival in 1996, and they have been friends and colleagues since. Santa Cruz was founded in 1996. The Music of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra, offered Chou a position in the orchestra, but Chou realized that it would not be in his best interest to Chou Wen-chung (Yantai, China; 29 become an orchestral musician in war-torn China. June 1923), a remarkable composer, scholar, Chou emigrated in 1946. He traveled first to New Haven, Connecticut, and teacher, moved to Wuhan (Hankow) where he had been offered a full scholarship to study architecture at Yale around 1930. It was there that his fascination University. Almost immediately, he forsook that path and set out for Boston, with music began. In 1937 when the Japanese Massachusetts. At the New England Conservatory, Chou studied with Carl invaded China, he moved to Shanghai, which McKinley, William Storey Smith, and Nicholas Slonimsky. Smith introduced offered both a fine municipal orchestra and Chou to the music of Edgard Varèse, whom Chou met in 1949. He became German and Czarist Russian refugee musicians a pupil of Varèse, then a friend, and eventually—at the request of Varèse who taught and gave concerts. In this environ- himself—the custodian of his music. Slonimsky’s great contribution to the ment, Chou studied at the Shanghai Music formation of Chou’s mature style was his advice that Chou study his School (Yinyue Guan). Chou, having already Chinese cultural heritage. assembled a collection of Chinese traditional When the People’s Republic of China was formed in October 1949, music, began collecting recordings of Western the allowance that Chou had received from his family stopped. He classical music. Under the guidance of an followed his brother to New York City, where he studied briefly with Italian cellist in the Shanghai Orchestra, he also had his first encounter Bohuslav Martinu. Varèse also lived in New York. Although Chou knew of with ancient Western modes. These modes are defined by their distinctive Varèse, the person who was responsible for getting the two men together configurations of half-steps and whole-steps as well as by the characteristic was the composer Colin McPhee. Though confident that Varèse would be motifs associated with those intervallic configurations. (For Chou, these the ideal teacher for Chou, McPhee warned Chou that any imitation of modes opened a path that led many years later to his Variable Modes.) In Varèse would be fatal. the fall of 1941, Chou began studying architecture at St. John’s University. Chou’s “audition” piece with Varèse was his tone poem Landscapes, The Pacific War forced him to flee Shanghai. (He penetrated the Japanese which made a favorable impression. When the question of tuition arose, Imperial Navy’s blockade on an armed junk.) At Guilin (Kweilin) in Guangxi Varèse told Chou that payment was unnecessary, preferring instead that Province, he enrolled at Guangxi National University. Inspired by the ancient “someday you can give me a gong.” gardens of the campus, he decided to become a musician or a poet. During his apprenticeship with Varèse, Chou began to find his compositional As the Japanese advanced on Guilin during the summer of 1944, Chou voice. Varèse encouraged the development of an intrinsic style, one rooted in escaped once again—this time by jumping on board the last train departing the persona of the composer himself. Varèse did not rely on formulas or theo- the falling city. He hitch-hiked to Chongqing (Chungking), where he completed retical models; instead, he held to the mantra “You have to find your own way.” his BS degree at Chongqing University in 1945. Wang Renyi, the conductor Chou’s work with Varèse was conducted in accordance with the the academic growth of the newly formed School of the Arts, established ancient tradition of the master teacher and the pupil. In the modern the first graduate course on Chinese music, and taught the first Asian world, however, degrees from accredited institutions are prerequisites Music Humanities course at Columbia. to career advancement; thus, Chou enrolled in a Master’s program at Chou’s music integrates Western art music and traditional Chinese Columbia University, where he had already been taking courses. Chou’s music. His mature works employ Variable Modes that Chou derived from matriculated at Columbia began in 1952. His professor of composition the trigrams and hexagrams of the I ching (book of changes), which is was Otto Luening. Chou completed his Master of Arts degree in 1954. predicated upon three philosophical premises: the dynamic balance of His graduation piece was the tone poem All in the Spring Wind. opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and the inevitability of At the conclusion of Chou’s Master’s program, he applied for and won change. Chou Variable Modes can be used not only to organize pitch a Rockefeller Foundation research grant. From 1955 until 1957, he investi- content, but also parameters such as duration, timbre, and so on. gated classical Chinese music—particularly repertoire for the qin—as well Chou’s studies with Varèse ended in 1954, but their friendship continued. as a related topics including “Chinese painting, calligraphy, poetry, and On 7 August 1965, Louise Varèse invited Chou to 188 Sullivan Street in philosophy.” Recognition of his achievements as a composer came in lower Manhattan. He met first with Louise, then with the eighty-one-year- the form of a commission in 1954 from the Louisville Orchestra for And old composer, who asked Chou: “Will you take care of my music?” Chou the Fallen Petals, and in 1958, his first commercial recording, Landscapes.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Study of Selected Works of Ignaz Joseph Pleyel
    The Woman's College of The University of North Carolina LIBRARY CQ no. Ml COLLEGE COLLECTION Gift of Rachel Elizabeth Mu^eon y A STUDY OF SELECTED WORKS OF IGNAZ JOSEPH PLEYEL by Rachel Elizabeth Hudson A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree '... Master of Education in Music Education Greensboro July, 1964 Approved by f-GL Director • h APPROVAL SHEET This thesis has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Greensboro, North Carolina. Thesis Director Oral Examination Committee Members %^McA^ $££* %6-L**<L-^ July 17, 1964 2703 Date of Examination ii HUDSON, RACHEL ELIZABETH. A Study of Selected Works of Ignaz Joseph Pleyel. (1964) Directed by: Dr. Lee Rigs by. 165 pp. The purpose of this study is to help fulfill a need in keyboard instruc - tion for more materials which are both worthy and exemplary of the period they reflect. For students in the intermediate grades, much of the literature re- flecting the classic style of the eighteenth century is far too difficult in its technical and interpretive demands. This is not true of many of the composi- tions of Ignaz Joseph Pleyel, but unfortunately his works fell into oblivion during the early nineteenth century and have up to the present played a very small role in the performing repertoire. The present discussion deals first with the biography of Pleyel, describ- ing his life as a composer and later as a successful business man.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of the American Viola Society Volume 31 No. 1, Spring 2015
    New Horizons Vadim Borisovsky and His Viola Arrangements, Part II The Viola Concertos of J. G. Graun and M. H. Graul Unconfused The Absolute Zero Viola Quartet Volume 31 Number 1 Number 31 Volume Turn-Out in Standing Journal of the American Viola Society Viola American the of Journal Journal of the American Viola Society A publication of the American Viola Society Spring 2015: Volume 31, Number 1 p. 3 From the Editor p. 5 From the President News & Notes p. 9 Primrose Memorial Concert 2015 Myrna Layton reports on Atar Arad’s appearance at Brigham Young University as guest artist for the 33rd concert in memory of William Primrose. p. 13 42nd International Viola Congress in Review: Performing for the Future of Music Martha Evans and Lydia Handy share with us their experiences in Portugal, with a congress that focused on new horizons in viola music. Feature Articles p. 19 Vadim Borisovsky and His Viola Arrangements: Recent Discoveries in Russian Archives and Libraries, Part II After a fascinating look at Borisovsky’s life in the previous issue, Elena Artamonova delves into the violist’s arrangements and editions, with a particular focus on the Glinka’s viola sonata p. 31 The Viola Concertos of J.G. Graun and M.H. Graul Unconfused The late Marshall ineF examined the viola concertos of J. G. Graul, court cellist for Frederick the Great, in arguing that there may have been misattribution to M. H. Graul. Departments p. 39 With Viola in Hand: A Passion Absolute–The Absolute Zero Viola Quartet The Absolute eroZ Quartet has captured the attention of violists in some 60 countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Verona Quartet Winner, 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition
    Verona Quartet Winner, 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition Uncensored Dmitri Shostakovich: Quartet No. 9 in E Flat Major – 26 mins Bright Sheng: String Quartet No. 4 - Silent Temple - 17 mins —Intermission— Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B flat Major, Op. 130 (with Grosse Fugue) – 40 mins The censorship of expression remains a motif throughout history, sometimes stemming from a seemingly innocuous desire for progress, other times borne out of malicious intent. Uncensored highlights the works of three composers whose lives were touched by the issue of censorship: Dmitri Shostakovich, whose creative output was constantly held hostage to the watchful eyes of the Soviet authorities; Bright Sheng, who, moved by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution on an abandoned temple in Northwest China, penned his Fourth String Quartet; and Ludwig van Beethoven, who at his publisher’s urging, removed from his Op. 130 String Quartet what is now undeniably one of his greatest masterpieces - the Grosse Fugue. Roots Program A (with piano) Gabriela Lena-Frank: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (21 min) - based on Andean Folk Music Amy Beach: Quartet for Strings Op. 89 in One Movement (13 min) - based on Inuit folk music Jessie Montgomery: Strum (8 min) - based on American Folk Music —Intermission— Grazyna Bacewicz: Piano Quintet No. 1 (25mins) - based on Polish folk music Program B (one hour program, string quartet only) Reena Esmail: String Quartet (Ragamala) (18 mins) - derived from Indian classical music Jessie Montgomery: Strum (8 min) - based on American folk music Amy Beach: Quartet for Strings Op. 89 in One Movement (13 min) - based on Alaskan Inuit folk music Gabriela Lena-Frank: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (21 min) - based on Andean folk music NB: This program is possible to present without intermission.
    [Show full text]
  • CHINARY UNG: SINGING INSIDE AURA WATER RINGS OVERTURE | ANICCA | ANTIPHONAL SPIRALS | GRAND SPIRAL [1] WATER RINGS OVERTURE (1993) 6:46 CHINARY UNG B
    CHINARY UNG: SINGING INSIDE AURA WATER RINGS OVERTURE | ANICCA | ANTIPHONAL SPIRALS | GRAND SPIRAL [1] WATER RINGS OVERTURE (1993) 6:46 CHINARY UNG b. 1942 WATER RINGS OVERTURE [2] ANICCA (1970) 8:27 ANICCA [3] ANTIPHONAL SPIRALS (1995) 11:03 ANTIPHONAL SPIRALS [4] SINGING INSIDE AURA (2013) 14:34 Susan Ung, viola and voice SINGING INSIDE AURA GRAND SPIRAL: DESERT FLOWERS BLOOM [5] GRAND SPIRAL: DESERT FLOWERS BLOOM (1991) 13:19 SUSAN UNG viola and voice TOTAL 54:10 BOSTON MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT GIL ROSE, CONDUCTOR COMMENT By Chinary Ung The use of vocalization has become a central feature in my music over the past two decades. As a child growing up in a small village surrounded by rice fields, I was exposed to this practice as a part of folk music, and would later hear the music of other cultures share this approach. In contemporary Western music, however, vocalization was most often used as a special effect. I would eventually seek to incorporate vocalization in a more comprehensive manner that was integral to the work while reflecting a similar timelessness and cultural resonance as in the folk music I remembered. The first significant occasion I had to experiment with this idea was in Susan Ung’s Moon Ritual, a structured improvisation in the late 1970s in which Susan played her viola through a Buchla synthesizer while I played cello and vocalized, using syllables for their sound character. The idea remained on the back burner for twenty years before I brought it forth in a major work, Grand Alap, for cello and percussion, in which both parts featured extensive vocalization.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinary Ung Grand Spiral
    NWCR710 Chinary Ung Grand Spiral 2. Spiral II (1989) .................................................... (9:49) Judy May Sellheim, mezzo-soprano; Robert Hamilton, piano; Daniel Perantoni, tuba; Arthur Weisberg, conductor 3. Khse Buon for Viola Solo (1980) ........................ (11:02) Susan Lee Pounders Ung, viola 4. Mohori (1974) ..................................................... (12:36) Barbara Martin, soprano; Contemporary Chamber Ensemble: George Haas, oboe; Kenneth Hosley, percussion; Susan Jolles, harp; Gilbert Kalish, piano; Susan Palma, flute; Joseph Passaro, percussion; David Starobin, guitar; Arthur Weisberg, conductor 5. Khse Buon for Cello Solo (1980) ........................ (18:48) Marc Johnson, cello 6. Tall Wind (1970) ................................................. (7:09) Joan Heller, soprano; Keith Underwood, flute; Robert Atherholt, oboe; David Starobin, guitar; Chris Finckel, cello; Arthur Weisberg, conductor 1. Grand Spiral for Symphonic Band (1990) .......... (11:59) Total playing time: 72:06 Arizona State University Symphonic Band; Richard E. Strange, conductor Ê & © 1976, 1983, 1996 Composers Recordings, Inc. © 2007 Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc. Notes Try, for a moment, to imagine a landscape for Chinary Ung’s fascinating display of Ung’s difficult and fascinating progress Grand Spiral. Where—even on the most up-to-the-second into his exotic and unique musical landscape. multicultural, postmodern map—might you find a concert Born in Takeo, Cambodia in 1942, Ung grew up in a musical band that sounds like a gamelan and a concert band? Where, environment exclusively Cambodian or Khmer. But it was the short of finding John Coltrane wandering through the Mekong unlikely E-flat clarinet that he studied at the University of Delta, might a saxophone quartet prominently display the Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, simply because that was, by sinuous interlocking lines of Asian music but still effortlessly chance, the only instrument available to him.
    [Show full text]
  • Adam Baruch - the Soundtrack of My Life Reinhard Startseite Erstellen
    6 Adam Baruch - The Soundtrack Of My Life Reinhard Startseite Erstellen Adam Baruch - The Soundtrack Of My Life Startseite Info Gefällt mir Abonnieren Teilen Kontaktiere uns Nachricht Beiträge Fotos Adam Baruch - The Soundtrack Of My Life Adam Baruch - The Soundtrack Of My Life 3. August um 10:51 · fragen Community Saxofour & Maria Joao – “Cinco” "Kannst du mir etwas mehr über Frage stellen dich erzählen?" Gruppen This is a stunning album by the Austrian saxophone quartet Saxofour, which "Kann ich etwas mehr über consists of Florian Brambock, Klaus Dickbauer, Christian Maurer and Frage stellen deinen Hintergrund erfahren?" Seite erstellen Wolfgang Pusching, who between them play soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. On this album they "Hast du Zeit zum Chatten?" Frage stellen combine forces with the wonderful Portuguese vocalist Maria Joao. The album presents twelve compositions, seven of which are by the great Gib eine Frage ein ... Portuguese pianist / composer Mario Laginha, five are by the quartet members and one is a standard. Joao wrote the lyrics to three of the compositions. All the music was arranged by the quartet members. Our Story The music is an orgy of creativity and spontaneity, combining the exquisite sound created by the saxophone quartet with the extraordinary vocal Adam Baruch is one of the world's leading pyrotechnics of Joao. Although seemingly lacking any rhythmic support, this authorities on Jazz and Progressive Rock music is full of polyrhythmic complexity, combining the familiar Jazz setting Music. He is a wr... with the exotic South European vivacity. Mehr anzeigen The saxophone quartet is capable of producing a rich and complex soundscape, combining the four individual instruments into an almost symphonic sound environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Antoni Szałowski
    1 Introduction 1.1. Defining the subject “It is the duty of Polish musicologists to know more or less as much about us as they do about the composers who live in Poland”1. These words come from Roman Palester’s letter to the organisers of a sym­ posium devoted to the works of Polish émigré composers which took place in Warsaw in 1988, a project initiated by the Musicology Section of the Polish Composers’ Union. The conference was an exceptional event, and the first one of its kind. The papers to be presented there were to combine critical and aesthetic interpretation with artistic evaluation of the works, and some of them were to be devoted to Antoni Szalowski2. Unfortunately, the achievements of Szalowski, one of the main represen­ tatives of Polish Neoclassicism, were, after all, omitted from the con­ ference programme. Roman Palester described this as “something of a scandal”3. Referring to the title of the symposium, “Music wrongly 1 R. Palester, Prawda źle obecna [Truth Wrongly Present] [letter sent in December 1988], in: Muzyka île obecna [Music Wrongly Present], ed. K. Tarnawska-Kaczo- rowska, I, Warszawa 1989, p. 28. 2 According to Krystyna Tarnawska-Kaczorowska the paper on Szałowski was to have been written by Adam Walaciński. She also mentions Wladyslaw Malinowski, who was planning a presentation on the influence of the émigré community on the evolution of creative paths, using the music of Palester, Panufnik, Spisak and Szalow­ ski as examples. Cf. K. Tarnawska-Kaczorowska, Na rozpoczęcie [To Start with], in: Muzyka île obecna, op. cit., p.
    [Show full text]
  • ___CURRENT CV, Laura Elise Schwendinger CURRENT CV 2015
    Laura Elise Schwendinger Professor of Composition Artistic Director, Contemporary Chamber Ensemble University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music Main Office Phone: 608-263-1900; Fax: 608-262-8876 3561 Humanities, 455 North Park Street; Madison, WI 53706-1483 [email protected]; http://www.lauraschwendinger.com EDUCATION 1993 Ph.D. in Music, University of California at Berkeley Field of Study: Composition. Dissertation: Chamber Concerto. Advisor: Andrew Imbrie 1987 M.A., University of California at Berkeley. 1985 B.M., Boston Conservatory of Music. Composition major. 1981 San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Composition major. Principal teachers: Andrew Imbrie, Olly Wilson, John Thow, Larry Bell, John Adams. Additional studies with: Milton Babbitt, Martin Bresnick, Paul Chihara, Jacob Druckman, Donald Erb, Richard Felciano, Donald Martino, George Perle, Bernard Rands, Gunther Schuller, Joan Tower and Chinary Ung. HONORS, FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDED COMMISSIONS March 2015 Artist Fellowship Residency MacDowell Colony for June/ July 2015 Feb. 2015 Artist Fellowship Residency, Tyrone Guthrie Center (for Summer 2016) Sept. 2014 League of American Orchestras and New Music USA and announce New Partnerships residency for Laura Schwendinger and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/pairing-composers-and-orchestras-with-an-eye-on-younger- audiences/ http://www.americanorchestras.org/images/stories/press_releases/MusicAliveNewPartnershipsrelease.pdf Sept. 2014 Koussevitzky Music Foundation Commission from the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, for the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston. June 2014 Artist Fellowship Residency, Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, Schwandorf Germany July 2014 Artist Fellowship Residency, Yaddo Corp.; also in 2013, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2005 (Wait fellowship), 1996 August 2014 Artist Fellowship Residency, VCCA Auvillar, France Spring 2014 A Roger Shapiro Foundation grant, for CD.
    [Show full text]
  • BRIGHT SHENG BIOGRAPHY-Composer/Conductor/Pianist
    BRIGHT SHENG BIOGRAPHY-Composer/Conductor/Pianist Proclaimed "an innovative composer who merges diverse musical customs in works that transcend conventional aesthetic boundaries," composer/conductor Bright Sheng received the coveted MacArthur Foundation Fellowship — the so-called "Genius Award" — in November 2001. "Sheng is a fresh voice in cross-cultural music," the Foundation Committee further noted. "He will continue to be an important leader in exploring and bridging musical traditions." Among the major organizations that have commissioned and Bright Sheng performed his works are: The White House, Beijing 2008 Olympic Photo: Peter Shin Games, the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Symphony, The National Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Orchestra de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Hamburg Radio Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, National Symphony of Russia, Warsaw Symphony, Danish National Radio Symphony, Denmark, Finnish Radio Symphony, National Symphony of Spain, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, and festivals throughout North America, Europe and Asia. A strong believer that music should always be a living, breathing art form, and composing and performing are in one entity, Bright Sheng is also a highly regarded conductor and pianist. Among others, his guest conducting engagements includes the Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the St.
    [Show full text]
  • The Music of Bright Sheng: Expressions of Cross-Cultural Experience
    The Music of Bright Sheng: Expressions of Cross-Cultural Experience Introduction: The idea of tapping non-Western compositional resources in Twentieth- century works is not new. With its beginning in Europe, it came to America in the mid-Twentieth century. Quite a few American avant-garde composers have tried to infuse Eastern elements in their works either by direct borrowing of melodic material or philosophical concepts. As a whole, these composers have challenged the American musical community to recognize cultural differences by finding the artistic values in this approach. Since the mid-1980s, Chou Wen- Chung, a champion of East-West musical synthesis, recruited a group of prize- winning young Chinese composers through his U.S.-China Arts Exchange to study at Columbia University. Most of these composers such as Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Ge Gan-ru, Bun-Ching Lam had solid conservatory training before coming to the United States. They are now in their early 50s, and are successful in their individual careers, and are contributing a great deal for the musical life in America. Writing an article about this “Chinese phenomenon,” James Oestereich notes that although the American musical community has been slow to accepted this fact, “all of these composers tend to be marginalized at times, their cross-cultural works treated as novelties rather than a part of the contemporary-music mainstream (if mainstream there be anymore).” 1 Oestereich cites an example that, “in all the criticism of a paucity of contemporary music at the New York Philharmonic in recent years, Mr. Masur seldom receives points for his advocacy of some of these composers and others of Asian heritage.”2 This article was published five years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • News Release
    news release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACTS: Maggie Stapleton (ACO/EarShot) February 12, 2019 646.536.7864 x2; [email protected] Siobhan Rodriguez (Sarasota Orchestra) 941.487.2746; [email protected] EarShot and Sarasota Orchestra Present Brand New Orchestral Works by Four Emerging Composers Krists Auznieks, Nicky Sohn, Sam Wu, Kitty Xiao Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 8pm Holley Hall | 709 N Tamiami Trail | Sarasota, FL Tickets: $15 - $30 and more information available at www.sarasotaorchestra.org EarShot: bit.ly/earshotnetwork Sarasota, FL – On Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 8pm, EarShot (the National Orchestral Composition Discovery Network) and the Sarasota Orchestra present the readings of new works by four emerging composers at Holley Hall (709 N Tamiami Trail). Led by Los Angeles based conductor Christopher Rountree, the New Music Readings will be the culmination of a series of private readings, feedback sessions, and work with mentor composers Robert Beaser, Laura Karpman, and Chinary Ung. The selected composers and their works, chosen from a national call for scores that yielded 127 applicants, are Krists Auznieks (Crossing), Nicky Sohn (Bird Up), Sam Wu (Wind Map), and Kitty Xiao (Ink and Wash). Additional activities include professional development panels with the mentor composers and guests William J. Lackey of American Composers Forum, Stephen Miles of New College of Florida, and select staff from the Sarasota Orchestra administrative team. “Sarasota Orchestra is thrilled to be a partner for the ACO’s Earshot initiative and a leader on the national forefront of orchestras raising the profile of emerging composers,” said Sarasota Orchestra President/CEO Joseph McKenna.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding of Authentic Performance Practice in Bright Sheng’S Seven Tunes Heard in China for Solo Cello
    UNDERSTANDING OF AUTHENTIC PERFORMANCE PRACTICE IN BRIGHT SHENG’S SEVEN TUNES HEARD IN CHINA FOR SOLO CELLO A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Chiao-Hsuan Kang B.F.A., National Taiwan Normal University, 2009 M.M., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, 2012 May 2016 © [2016 copyright] [Chiao-Hsuan Kang] All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heart-felt appreciation to my parents, Chen Min Kang and Mei Yuan Lin for their support, love and encouragement during my many years of education, both in Taiwan and in the United States. I would like to thank the composer, Bright Sheng for his insightful and helpful indications during the process of learning this music and preparing this document. I am also deeply indebted to the members of my Doctor of Musical Arts committee, Jan Grimes, who has been unwavering in her positive support and emotional strength, Robert Peck, who always has had the patience and ability to keep me from worrying more than necessary, Gang Zhou for her careful reading and participation in this project, and Dennis Parker, my major professor during my three years at Louisiana State University, who has been much more than merely a cello teacher, and has helped open my eyes to many other areas of art and life. There have been many wonderful teachers and mentors here and elsewhere from whom I have gathered inspiration, and with whom I have had marvelous performance opportunities.
    [Show full text]