Tuesday Night New Music: Lian, Jian, Wu, Chapman, Lanning, Ha, Otake, Li, Rosenberg
The newest works from the next generation of composers.
Tuesday Night New Music, a student-run, faculty-supervised concert series, was founded in the early 90s by Lee Hyla. It offers audiences the opportunity to hear the music of current New England Conservatory composition students, performed by their peers. This year the series is directed by student composers ChangJin Ha ’24 and Stellan Connelly Bettany '25 under the supervision of composition chair Michael Gandolfi.
This is an in-person event with a private stream available to the NEC community here: https://necmusic.edu/live.
Shawn Lian | CentriFUGAL Force (2021)
Subin Oh, flute
Yuhsi Chang, oboe
Xianyi Ji, clarinet
Jialu Wang, bassoon
Mattias Bengtsson, French horn
Justin Park, trumpet
PuYuan Chen, trombone
Masaru Lin, tuba
HyunJi Lee. Bowen Chen, violin
Jowen Hsu, viola
Hechen Sun, cello
Minyi Wang, double bass
Ngaieng Lai, percussion
Yoonsu Cha, harp
Iverson Eliopoulos, conductorProgram note
CentriFUGAL Force features many contrapuntal ideas and material, with the double entendre “FUGAL” relating very clearly to “fugue.” The name CentriFUGAL Force comes from a physics term, “centrifugal force,” which describes the tendency of an object moving in a circular path to travel away from the center of the circle due to inertia. This piece contains elements of pentatonic systems and contemporary contrapuntal techniques. It begins with a peaceful introduction, which then arrives at a point where all the instruments are playing a chord built on a minor 7th (voiced from the bottom to the top). After the “big 7th chord,” it goes into a fast, contrapuntal section. The counterpoint here also serves as an introduction of the main “Grand Fugue” section. This fugue section is the central point of the piece. It comprises a complex, thirteen-voice fugue that builds in momentum as counterpoints strive to break out of the fugal complex. Afterwards, the fugue subject is combined with the pentatonic melody that appeared in the beginning of the piece to form a chaotic stretto. This section ends in the “big 7th chord” again, but this time it is inverted from the top voice to the bottom. The form, then, has a circular logic. In the end, it returns to the slow music of the opening, again emphasizing the circulation inherent in the title, CentriFUGAL Force.
– Shawn LianAi Jian | Nacht (2022)
Tara Hagle, Caroline Smoak, violin
Program note
I got the idea of the 5th between open strings in violin; I imitated it and made it into the motive, and I also got inspiration from minimal music employing the limited musical materials with repetitive patterns and shifting value of notes to enrich the conversation between two violins. This music piece was written at night so I named it in the German word “Nacht,”; it expresses the mystery of the night and the aimless meander of our minds at night through the melodious and graceful sound of the violin.
– Ai JianZining Wu | Stargazer (2023)
Dillon Acey, bass clarinet
Program note
Origin of the Name:
The inspiration for this comes from Matthew Wong's artwork of the same name, which I first encountered at the Museum of Fine Art. Wong's paintings often depict solitary and wandering figures. The instant I beheld "Stargazer," it profoundly enchanted me. The tree branches are adorned with few leaves, yet illuminated by moonlight, they form exquisite patterns on the grass, akin to something from a dream by Van Gogh. A lone individual contemplates the stars in silence, prompting reflections on themes like solitude, introspection, and our connection to the cosmos. This is my favorite review of one of his other works : “A Tree’s Rhythm puts the viewer amid a dazzling dance of quivering silvery branches and flickering leaves in harmony with the tempo of the cosmos. Time collapses and expands, marked in repetitive scores on the trunk very like sound notations, connecting everything in a process of continual renewal. Nature is the chief protagonist in Wong’s narratives, and elements of the landscape are uncommonly animated.” (Cathryn Drake)
About My Creative Process for this Piece:
This is my first composition for solo bass clarinet, drawing inspiration from Elliott Carter's harmonic system. Each section introduces distinct elements different from the previous one. My aim is to create a rich and colorful tonal palette solely using the bass clarinet itself.
– Zining WuCoco Chapman | Mission Unaccomplished (2023)
I. Sequins
II. Trialogue
III. Odyssey
Alexander Lenser, English horn, oboe
Xiaoran Xu, French horn
Miruna Eynon, celloProgram note
Although my usual creative process involves improvising on a piano, recording myself, and notating my creation in Sibelius to make edits, since Mission Unaccomplished is a chamber work, it would have been virtually impossible to improvise all parts at once using only two hands. Thus, I tried something different for this piece. I sat in the lounge with my laptop on my lap at 2 AM—hence the title, which suggests procrastination—and composed the entire first movement from start to finish. Rarely am I as inspired as I was for this totally impromptu piece, which I wrote as I went along. In fact, I would say I did improvise Mission Unaccomplished, just not on an instrument. After workshopping it with these fabulous musicians—it was delightful to hear my vision brought to life—I went home for the summer and came back rejuvenated and ready to compose two contrasting movements. My second movement is a rondo-esque exploration of a wonderful tonal world, while my final movement is an extensive conclusion that touches on themes from my favorite movie, La La Land. Once again, I’m so grateful for Alex, Xiaoran, and Miruna for accomplishing this mission!
– Coco ChapmanMathew Lanning | Three American String Quartets (2023)
Automospheres
Ghost Tree
on the inside I’m hootin’ on the outside I’m hollerin’
Kearston Gonzales, Maxwell Fairman, violin
Nicolette Sullivan-Cozza, viola
Miruna Eynon, celloProgram note
"Yeehaw”
– Kermit the FrogChangjin Ha | Bella's Dreamworld: Cassavavac S (2023)
Bella Hyeonseo Jeong, violin
Changjin Ha, pianoProgram note
Upon receiving a commission to compose a piece for my dear friend Bella Jeong's graduation recital, I was talking to her regarding the theme of the piece. Unexpectedly, I got a cryptic message from her: Cassavavac S. Puzzled, I inquired about its meaning. She replied several hours later that she mistakenly sent a random message as she was nodding off to sleep. That’s it. It clicked, it became the title of the piece. TADA-.
The work draws its primary motive from the title, specifically <CAAAAAC> (from CAssAvAvAC s). Given the constrained pitch domain, the piece places a heightened emphasis on rhythm and timbre. This stands in contrast to the more ethereal sections of the piece, which lean into whole-tone and octatonic scales. The intent is to encapsulate the element of surprise, mirroring Bella’s delightfully unconventional character.
– Changjin HaKei Otake | cloudwatching (2023)
Kei Otake, cello
Ziang Xu, pianoProgram note
cloudwatching was written over the summer of 2023, which was very musically active for me, and in many ways is a crystallization of the wide range of experiences and influences I encountered during that time. Although it didn’t occur to me during the writing of the piece, I get the sense now that it is full of dark and light, and invitation to find the tranquility between.
Despite having studied and performed in the cello/piano format for many years, this is my first composition within it, which proved both a challenge and a gift. Composed for and first performed in an August recital in Tokyo, I'm now very excited to present this piece here at NEC; thank you to Ziang Xu for helping me realize this music once again!
– Kei OtakeYunqi Li | A Normal Day (2023)
Yunqi Li, fixed media
Program note
This piece is inspired by a day in the life of my uncle, a medical assistant in China. Normal person, normal day, abnormal story.... Because of love and responsibility, no matter whether it's day and night, he keeps helping people in trouble: Giving a hand to patients who arrive alone at hospital, helping busy nurses to pick up their meals. In this piece, I use some traditional Chinese drama melodies and I also compose new lyrics for the melodies to draw my impression of my uncle, a normal person who tries his best to warm the world through small kind actions. My thanks for the contributions of actor Baoqing Shang, photographer Ying Li, lyricist Yunqi Li, singers Ying Nie and Pipa Lingtong Zhao, and drummers Binglin Li and Huiqiao Yang.
One moment, a cute boy becomes an adult.
One moment, an adult becomes a father.
One moment, a father becomes an old man.
All moments become the road of life.
A normal person walks an abnormal road on his life’s journey.
– Yunqi Li
Quinn Rosenberg | Bomb Cyclone (2023)
Honor Hickman, alto flute
Sarah Cho, bass clarinet
Yirou Zhang, violin
Philip Rawlinson, viola
Lily Stern, cello
Shalun Li, piano
Changjin Ha, conductorProgram note
From drought to downpour: Bomb Cyclone (2023) is influenced by the nine consecutive atmospheric rivers which occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area from December 2022 to January 2023, and seeks to personify the torrential rains and subsequent flooding. As the atmosphere gets warmer and therefore holds more water, when cold and warm air masses collide, air pressure declines rapidly and a more intense storm is created. This process is called bombogenesis, more colloquially known as bomb cyclones. The piece is approximately ten minutes in length.
– Quinn Rosenberg