Chamber Music - Hymm to the Fallen and Recessional

Guo Shang and Li Hun are the last two chapters of Jiu Ge (Nine Songs), a poem selection from an ancient Chinese anthology of poems, Chu Ci(Songs of Chu), by Qu Yuan. In Jiu Ge (Nine Songs), Guo Shang shows the most lamenting emotion for the fallen soldiers and Li Hun is a short concluding hymn or recessional. The two-movement of chamber music works are taken from Guo Shang: Hymn to the Fallen and Li Hun: Recessional. The composer restore the Chinese ancestors perennial celebration of life and fear of the nature with skilled modern composing techniques. The Song cycle, Taking Leave of a Friend composed by Shen Yiwen will also be performed at the concert, which was commissioned by American soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Carnegie Hall. Shen YiwenShen Yiwen, a young composer and doctor of the Juilliard School. He won the silver award of the Chinese Golden Bell Award (the gold award is vacant), and both the third award and excellence award of the Chinese National Composi-tion Competitions, first prize from SCI/ASCAP Composition Commission, title of outstanding composers from American IBLA international competition, best band work and best chamber music work at Juilliard School. His works has been performed in Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, the Carnegie Hall in New York, and Lincoln Center for several times. Shen Yiwens music has been praised as a jaunty, vibrantly scored canvas" and "with a lucid, economical lyricism handed down by Barber and Rorem by The New York Times.

Music 2014

Percussive Theatre Drifting

The work Drifting, performed by six percussionists, demonstrates the relation between the individual and the group. The six voices (percussionists) represent six islands, drifting back and forth in the ocean. It also adds body language, whisper and recitation, representing mature thinking and interaction among individuals The trio interpreted by body language, the duo by vibraphone and marimba, another quintet by drums, these complex combinations of ensemble create all kinds of rich form of sonority, and subtlety changing color of each interpreter.This work is supported by the instrumental music department and percussion music department of shanghai conservatory of music. Tsai WenchiBorn in Taipei, Tsai Wenchi began her study of composition with Chiang Chia-chen. She then enrolled into the ÉcoleNormale de Musique de Paris in the class of the renowned Japanese composer, Yoshihisa Taira. In June 2006, she obtained her superior diploma of composition with the 1st prize. Upon graduation.she actively created and published works in both France and Taiwan, and Wen-chi was invited by the great saxophonist Nicolas Prost to compose Le fougémissant for the saxophone baritone. Her other works include Plongeurand Relation, the percussion duet Ombre, and Pluie du soirfor marimba and flute. Her works were performed at various music festivals in Paris, Lyon, and Avignon, and also on tour in Taipei, Hsinchu and Taoyuan . Tsai Wen-chi is currently a teacher of composition and music theory in the Central Conservatory of Music (Xiamen Branch) in China.

Music 2014

Sinfonia Concertante for Anda Union and Orchestra - The Last of the Steppes

In nine movements, The Last of the Steppes depicts the past, present, and future of the lnner Mongolian grasslands. The past is the nomadic life of Mongols, a culture built on relationships with domesticated animals as well as with wildlife: wolfs, eagles, gazelles, and more. The present is about the loss of the steppes; the human transition from protecting to threatening the grasslands through mining, agriculture, and urban development, leading to habitat destruction, desertification, and air pollution in the region, as well as a plea to "go home," a place strictly of the past. The future is uncertain. lt might be dystopian and devoid of anda, the Mongolian word for brotherhood and compassion, or it might be a chance for grasslands rebirth; the people who preserve the steppes today, then, are the heroes of tomorrow. Sam WuSam Wus music deals with the beauty in blurred boundaries. Many of his works center around extra-musical themes: architecture and urban planning, climate science and the search for exoplanets that host life. Selected for the American Composers Orchestras EarShot readings, winner of an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Sam was also awarded First Prize at the Washington International Competition. Sams collaborations span five continents, most notably with the Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Sarasota Orchestras, the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphonies, New York City Ballet, Sydney International Piano Competition, the Lontano, Parker, Argus, ETHEL and icarus Quartets, conductors Osmo Vänskä, Case Scaglione, and Benjamin Northey, and sheng virtuoso Wu Wei. After growing up in Shanghai, Sam (b. 1995) received degrees from Harvard University and The Juilliard School, and is a DMA candidate in Composition at Rice Universitys Shepherd School of Music. His teachers include Tan Dun, Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, and Chaya Czernowin. Anda Union"Anda" in Mongolian mean sworn brothers. Anda Union Mongolian Ensemble was established in 2003. The 10members of the team are all from Aru Khorchin in Xilingol prairie, with an average age of less than 30. As the only domestic professional art groups of perfect combination of horse-headed fiddle, the Khomus and Humai singing, they won the first place of grand prix in aboriginal group in authority singing competition in 2006, the 12th CCTV young singer competition, and got fame since then. Anda Union Mongolian Ensemble is one of the most popular Chinese band in number of foreign tours.

Music 2014