Month: March 2019

I’ve received word from pianist Eunmi Ko that she will include my recent solo work, Inner Truth, in her performance as part of the San Francisco International Piano Festival, which runs from August 15-24.  I will update with the precise date, time, and venue details when I have them.  For now, I’m certainly excited to hear about this event and deeply appreciative of Eunmi’s continued interest in my music.   

I’m thrilled to have been selected for the Albany Symphony Orchestra’s Orchestrating in the 21st Century workshop and reading session.  As part of this event, I will compose a new work for members of the Albany Symphony and conductor David Alan Miller, to be premiered as part of their First Draughts Reading Session, and participate in workshops and masterclasses with composer Christopher Theofanidis.  These events are part of the larger American Music Festival—“Sing Out, New York!”, honoring New York’s role in civil rights history.  Among the prominent artists participating in this year’s festival are composers John Corigliano and David Del Tredici, soprano Hila Plitmann, composer/performer Molly Joyce, the Argus String Quartet, and others.  I’m so excited to be part of this opportunity and look forward to putting pencil to paper (and eraser to paper) over the next month in what will certainly the fastest composing I’ve done in some time!

After weeks of what amounts to blood, sweat, and tears—not to mention millions of e-mails—things are beginning to come into focus for our 2-day international composition conference—The Keyboard in the 21st Century—at HKBU.  As the website now shows, the conference will explore the range of styles and breadth of expression that make up contemporary keyboard music, including acoustic, electro-acoustic, and intermedia works for piano, harpsichord, and synthesizer.  The composers whose music we will hear represent a dozen countries and were selected for their unique artistic voices and ability to communicate vivid sonic experiences.  Alongside these performances, we will hear directly from featured composers George Tsontakis, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, and others through lectures and roundtable discussions.  The conference will also feature a concert of works by all HKBU faculty composers, including pianist Linda Yim presenting my recent work, Inner Truth.  I’m so looking forward to welcoming my composition colleagues to Hong Kong and HKBU this April.  As we gather from around the globe, I hope the sounds and dialogue of the conference will inspire not only deep intellectual inquiry but renewed creative fire!

I’m very pleased to share news that my solo piano work, Inner Truth, has been selected for performance at the Dot the Line Festival in Korea this May.  The performance by pianist Eunmi Ko will take place at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, a place I know well from previous visits and musical events.  Inner Truth was composed as part of a larger project honoring the centennial of Isang Yun’s birth, so it’s fitting and personally meaningful that the piece will be done in Korea. 

Inner Truth was most recently performed by Daniel Pesca at the University of Chicago and will be performed by Hong Kong pianist Linda Yim as part of The Keyboard in the 21st Century conference next month at HKBU.  I’m so happy to see the music—which I’ll admit took great pains to create—is finding favorable fingers in many parts of the world.