Blog

NMB Series

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NewMusicBox published a series of articles last month which speak some to my experiences as a composer in China.

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The first article discusses my collaborations with pipa player Xia Yuyan 夏雨言 (For Summer Rain). The second details the new music initiatives of the Chinese Bamboo Flute Orchestra 中国竹笛乐团 (An Introduction to the Chinese Bamboo Flute Orchestra). Article 3 is about a weekend spent with poet Zheng Xiaoqiong 郑小琼 (Poetry and Community in Guangzhou). The final article discusses The Importance of Exchange and several Beijing composers who are active in creating it.

At Banff

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I have been at Banff for the past week and a half collaborating with the Butter Quartet from The Hague —

They premiered a new quartet I wrote for them, Mycelia whisper lines, last night. It has been such a wonderful experience to work with the Butters and their historical instruments.

 

Sheng / yangqin / toy piano

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I recorded the impression remains late last week with Li Yi Fan (sheng 笙), Zhu Jiang Yang (yangqin 扬琴), and Alexander Colding Smith (conductor 指挥):

It was great to collaborate with everyone and for the piece — which we have been discussing since 2015 — to come full circle. Yi Fan and I had met in an elevator at China Conservatory one evening. She lamented that none of the composers she knew would write sheng pieces and asked if I were interested on the spot. We met for several demonstrations and kept in touch, but she left the exact instrumentation of the work up to me. (Perhaps I would have reconsidered my chosen instrumentation had I envisioned myself carting a toy piano around Beijing taxis for a year…).

June

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I finished a new graphic score for Colleen last month called cicada song; it is being premiered on Saturday in Texas at Sam Houston State University in a realization for six percussionists.

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I had also written a trio back in August/September for sheng 笙, yangqin 扬琴, and toy piano 玩具钢琴 called the impression remains. I had a great rehearsal with Zhu Jiang Yang, Li Yi Fan, and Li Yun this morning in Beijing; we are making a recording of the piece next week.

I head to Canada on July 8th and will be at Banff for the month to workshop a new piece during EQ: Evolution of the String Quartet. (Banff must surely be the opposite of Beijing…?)

 

Happy Birthday, Gao Weijie

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Chinese composer Gao Weijie 高为杰 turned 80 this year. It’s hard to imagine having come to China without his keen insights and encouragement along the way. Gao Ping 高平 had organized a festschrift in his honor in the fall and asked me to contribute a chapter; the book was published last week by Southwest China Normal University Press (西南师范大学出版社).

This photo accompanies the article — it was taken at his birthday party in Spring 2015, a few months after I first came to Beijing.

智者、严师、乐人、挚友：高为杰80寿辰庆贺纪念雅集 | “Sage, Strict Teacher, Musician, Friend: Gao Weijie’s 80th Birthday Celebration Anniversary Collection”