Tuesday Night New Music: Zhong, Carroll, Ha, Ma, Wang, Jia, Li, Wiese, Lau, Zhong, Jiang & Bian

Shiwen Zhong | Vanishing Sound (2021)

Lento
Lento
Vivace
Lento

Aimee Toner, flute

Program note

Childhood time gives us sweet and happy memory. Let’s recall this valuable and interesting time together…                                                                            
– Shiwen Zhong

Marie Carroll | voltaic art (2022)

Aimee Toner, flute
Njord Fossnes, viola
Marie Carroll, electronics

Changjin Ha | Romance III for Violoncello (2022)

Claire Deokyong Kim, cello

Program note

The Romance series is an attempt to explore the ugly side of love; Romance I and Romance II explore jealousy.  Romance III tackles a taboo relationship. These forbidden relationships are much more common than we think: your ex’s friend, your friend’s ex, etc… In Romance IV, he commits to that kind of scandalous relationship; Romance III highlights his deep agony overcoming this dilemma. Love itself is not an offense, but it’s up to the lover to deal with its aftermath. 
        The main subject does not significantly change throughout the piece; I would call it timbral variation, but there are several moments where the melody line strays from its anticipated path to mirror his hesitation.                                    
– Changjin Ha

Lingbo Ma | 女娲 Nü Wa (2021)

Xu Guo, piano

Program note

This piece, written upon a request from my pianist friend Linda Ruan, is inspired by the legend of Nü Wa, a goddess in ancient Chinese myth who managed to overcome obstacles and create human. It’s my first time trying to incorporate a narrative into an instrumental piece. Several different sections could be heard: the chaos of the primitive world, the gracefully sensitive Nü Wa theme, the monotony of being alone on the earth, and the taxing but ardent action of human building which is the climax and leads to peace at the end. Harmonically, pentatonic scales and their transformations are used in various ways throughout.                   
– Lingbo Ma

Jiaqi Wang | Elysium Variation for solo harp (2021)

Hannah Cope Johnson, harp

Program note

In the Buddhist classics, the word Elysium is used. It is a place that is extremely blissful and free from troubles. There the ground is paved with gold. In addition, Elysium has “seven precious pools,” “eight meritorious bodies of water,” and the white lotus flowers constantly fall from the sky day and night. All kinds of peculiar flowers and birds are common, food and clothing come with the thought, and happiness is limitless. There is no war, no disease, no disaster, and all people are equal. Beauty and solemnity can also describe Elysium. Everyone has a wonderful world of bliss in their heart and wishes they could reach it beyond time and space.       
          Elysium Variation is structured as a variation. The main theme of the work is presented in Dorian mode at the beginning of the piece, which brings a peaceful, mysterious, and religious atmosphere. In the following sections, the piece retakes the original pitches from the primary theme, with distinctive musical variations, and each variation achieves more vitality as the piece develops. The piece as a whole expresses my wish to go to the blissful world - Elysium, and I pray that all those who struggle with suffering and troubles will not only have the desire to go to Elysium but will actively seek the genuine way to Elysium and practice it in the present moment, to achieve true and eternal freedom and happiness in our body and mind.
– Jiaqi Wang

Tianfang Jia | Chanting Elsewhere (2022)

Tianfang Jia, singing bowls, electronics

Program note

Elsewhere, a nomadic soul is roaming in the sound. The music unfolds both in a micro dimension of a singing bowl spectrum, and a macro dimension of a soundmass.                                                                                                   
– Tianfang Jia

Yunqi Li | A painting (2022)

Chen Bowen, Chang Dorson, violin
Hyelim Kong, viola
Feng Lexine, cello

Program note

Purple shadows,
Endless aurora,
It is the beginning,
It is the ending.
Dead tree cries,
White stars,
Cyan eyes,
It is the dream,
It is the reality.
The narrow black soil,
Imprisoned roots,
It is the ending.
It is the beginning.                                                                      
– Yunqi Li

Ian Wiese | The Selkie Child (2021)

Opening/Finding the Child
Lullaby
The Storm and Saving Father Haimish
Finale
                                                                                               
Anna Kevelson, flute
Aidan Garrison, viola
Yvonne Cox, harp
Brooks Clarke, narration

Program note

The Selkie Child is the final collaboration result between storyteller Doria Hughes and myself, a flute/viola/harp trio with fully adapted story of the mystical Selkie boy. A selkie is a furred harbor seal that lives off the coast of the Orkneys and Shetlands in the Scottish North Sea. The locals believe that the harbor seals are magical beings, capable of shedding their skins and becoming humans to walk on land. One day, Father Haimish and Mother Fiona find a small boy on the beach wrapped in a strange fur blanket. They realize quickly that the boy is a selkie who shed his skin; being that Haimish and Fiona have no child of their own, they adopt the boy and hide his seal skin so that he may no longer transform back into a selkie. All of that changes one day when Haimish, out fishing in his small boat, gets caught in a massive storm.
         The Selkie Child was commissioned by Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble as part of their Playdate concert series. It was premiered with storyteller Doria Hughes on the Storytime! concerts on 12/11/2021.                                    
– Ian Wiese

Jordan Chun Kwan Lau | Quintet for Winds (2021)

Adagio – Andante
Allegro – Vivace
Allegro vivace
Presto

Honor Hickman, flute
Corinne Foley, oboe
Xiang Tao Ke, clarinet
Zoe Beck, bassoon
Jenna Stokes, French horn

Program note

I treat every composition like a puzzle; a puzzle that I create, break apart, and then solve myself. This was a fun one.                  
– Jordan Chun Kwan Lau

Zhaoqian Zhong | Icicle Arbors (2022)

Anne Chao, flute
So Jeong Kim, oboe
Hyunwoo Chun, clarinet
Adam Chen, bassoon
Huimin Liu, French horn

Program note

Icicle Arbors is a woodwind quintet composed in 2021 that was inspired by frozen  trees observed while skiing in New England in the winter. Three major triads hears at the opening are used as the basis for cyclic connections between the five movements.                                       
– Zhaoqian Zhong

Xiaofeng Jiang | Sprouts Sium! Sh… (2021)

Honor Hickman, flute
Erica Smith, clarinet
Yiming Yao, percussion
Xiaoqing Yu, violin                              
Julian Seney, viola
Yuri Ahn, cello
Nicolás Ayala-Cerón, conductor

Program note

What roles do humans play in the natural world? Or what should humans do in nature? Under the law of nature, based on the observations of the sprouting process that is unaffected by human intervention and how human activities affect the natural world, Sprouts Sium! Sh… explores the relationship between humans and the natural world. The piece is inspired by the pollution that humans cause in the natural world, presenting the sprouting process of distortion, which is affected by pollution.                 
– Xiaofeng Jiang

Yuchen Bian | King’s Lamentation (2021)

Anne Chao, flute
Nikita Manin, clarinet
Yutong Sun, piano
Ariel Pei Hsien Lu, percussion
Xiaoqing Yu, violin
Miruna Eynon, cello
Chihiro Asano, mezzo-soprano
Stratis Minakakis, conductor

Program note

The Last Lord of the Tang, Li Yu(李煜, 李後主, 937-978),ascended the throne of the Southern Tang dynasty南唐, also known as Jiangnan江南, in Jinling (Nanking) in 961. A ruler of refined spirit and rare artistic achievement, Li lacked the skill to navigate the treacherous political waters of his day. Following a protracted siege, in 975 Jinling fell to the powerful new Song dynasty to the north; Li Yu was captured and removed to the Song capital of Bian 汴 (modern-day Kaifeng開封)where he died in captivity in 978. The Last Lord of the Tang enjoys immortality because of his extraordinary ci-lyric poems. This selection of poems reflects the imprisoned ruler’s longing, perhaps for Jinling (although it is far from certain that he is simply writing about the fallen capital of his dynasty) and the life and pleasures of his lost domain.
– Yuchen Bian