2023
Excited that my chamber opera or/and 《給女兒的話》will be touring in Taiwan in Hualien 花蓮, Taipei 台北, Taichung台中 and Chiayi 嘉義 in March 2024!
November 12 at the Asia Society: A workshop premiere of a theatrical work in collaboration with the Taiwanese Tung-Hua shadow puppetry and Rice’s Center for the Environmental Studies.
October 26 at the Asia Society: The renowned Formosa Quartet presents three of my string quartets in a lecture interactive concert, featuring a film excerpt and a traditional Taiwanese nanguan music player/actress, who will perform/demonstrate.
Looking forward to my "Perpetual Movable Games” German tour in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin
Just got back from Taiwan after working with the 7th generation puppeteer for my upcoming premiere on November 12 “sisila ila ila: saying goodbye”. What an amazing experience.
I am honored to receive the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Walter Hinrichsen Award, my second award from this prestigious institution.
It is an honor to be a part of the Symphony Orchestra’s The Song of Earth Festival (Feb 4-19), for which I curated two chamber concerts at the Houston Public Library and the Asia Society Texas Center.
2022
Flashback Moments was nominated
第33屆傳藝金曲獎最佳編曲提名【入圍理由】
編曲家以提琴、胡琴、鋼琴在無調性的作曲上進行對回憶的詮釋。樂曲時而急促、時而鬆緩；弦樂器時以長樂句拉出線性旋律，時卻以點狀切出頓挫之感；在高音曲重複製造張力，後旋即又回到平穩且平衡的協奏上。這些斷裂、衝突、瑣碎的樂句看似毫無道理，但卻道盡人們在「回憶」當下，其實正是撿拾拼湊過往時光碎片的本質。
The Fantasia on the Theme of Plum Blossoms for String Orchestra is going to the European tour with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, what an honor!
Looking forward to this premiere. Many thanks to all of the people who makes this possible!
A much anticipated premiere… dedicated to Sophie Shao who spear-headed this project.
Flashback Moments was nominated for The 33rd Golden Melody Music Award for The Traditional Arts And Music in Taiwan for the Best Arrangement — press released on August 9th.
Grateful to be a fellow at the Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University (June 10 to July 4). It will conclude with a workshop performance of the chamber operatic poem or/and.
Civitella June 15 newsletter
Honored to be one of the faculty members at the soundSCAPE. See you in July!
Looking forward to spend 6 weeks (May 1 to June 10) at this amazing place!
2021
Honored to be a visiting composer at the soundSCAPE festival at Bobbio, Italy July 6-16, 2022.
or/and
or/and will be premiered at the Asia Society Texas Center (April), University of Heidelberg (July) and the soundSCAPE festival in Italy (July).
or/and is a multimedia chamber operatic poem, following the journey of a composer who finds her voice only when she accepts the seeming contradictions of her immigrant identity. Choosing “and” over the divisive “or,” this work taps into the inclusive power of AND to help mend our divided world.
2020
Our Names for A Century of Music from the American Academy in Rome
In celebration of the American Academy in Rome125th anniversary featuring music by AAR Fellows and Residents, past and present, I'm very honored that Our Names will have its European premiere on May 9th, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Teatro Studio, 9PM.
Residency at the Civitella Ranieri
Excited about a residency at the Civitella Ranieri in August/September to work on a storytelling multi-media theatre work Messages From A Formosan Village.
Messages from A Formosan Village, a 2020 MAP fund semifinalists and a storytelling a multimedia theater piece about empathy, diaspora, and cultural identity will be premiered in November 2021 at the Asia Society (Houston) and in 2022 in Frankfurt.
World Premiere of Withholding the Umbrella for Chinese Orchestra
I’m excited to announce the premiere of the Withholding the Umbrella for Chinese Orchestra with the National Chinese Orchestra on January 17. Many thanks to the Taiwan Institute for commissioning this piece
A new CD release on New World Records Silvergrass & Other Orchestral Works
My latest album Silvergrass & Other Orchestral Works will release on January 17th (Available on amazon.com).
Pieces include: A Plea to Lady Chang’e for Chamber Orchestra and Nanguan, Fantasia on the Theme of Plum Blossoms for String Orchestra, Concerto for Pipa and Chamber Orchestra, Fantasia on the Theme of Guanglingsan for Zheng and Chinese Orchestra, and Silvergrass, for Cello and Chamber Orchestra.
Many thanks to the performers who participating in this recording: Wu Man, Wen-Sinn Yang, Mei-Hui Wei, Jerry Hou, Chih Sheng Chen, Yao-Yu Wu, Loop 38, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and The Little Giant Chinese Orchestra.
This recording was made possible by a grant from The Alice M. Ditson Fund from the Columbia University.
2019
Echoes from Within: A Musical Response to Cy Twombly
Divergent Reflections
CD release, available on the Amazon on November 26
Divergent Reflections, include Fantasia on the Theme of Plum Blossoms for Alto Saxophone and Piano, by Jennifer Bill, saxophone and Yoshiko Kline, piano
Solos and Encounters: A Musical Response to Turrell Skyspace
Solos and Encounters: A Musical Response to Turrell Skyspace (with Wu Wei, Shawn Conley and Kurt Stallmann), Solos and Encounters: A Musical Response to Alte Aula/Heidelberg (with Wu Wei, John Eckhardt and Kurt Stallmann) and Echoes from Within: A Musical Response to Cy Twombly (with Wu Wei, Shawn Conley and Kurt Stallmann) are a series of site specific works which explore the dialogues between the space, electronic sound and live performance. It was such an awesome experience to work with these wonderful performers in these amazing spaces!
“Every line is thus the actual experience with its unique story. It does not illustrate; it is the perception of its own realization.” Twombly, 1957
Composer in Residence for the Space City New Music Festival
Space City New Music Festival composer-in-residence portrait concert (July 14) included a workshop premiere of the Messages, Returning Souls and Twice Removed by Hub New Music and Cameron Leach at the MATCH, Houston. I was really honored to meet and work with so many excellent performers and talented composers.
Silvergrass, Cello and Chamber Ensemble German tour
Silvergrass, Cello and Chamber Ensemble German tour (March 22-24) and recording session in Munich, Ulm and Stuttgart by Wen-Sinn Yang. Many thanks to the all performers and the sponsor the HoHaiYan Künstlerverein zur Förderung von Musik und Darstellender Kunst aus Taiwan e.V.
2018
World Premiere and recording of Flashback Moments for piano quartet at Merkin Hall, NYC
Flashback Moments for piano quartet was commissioned, premiered and recorded by the New Asia Chamber Music Society at the Merkin Hall on May 13. Thank you, Andy, Nan-Chen, Ji-In and Tzu-Yi!
Ascending Waves for large orchestra
Ascending Waves for large orchestra, written for the Shepherd School of Music on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary, was premiered on April 19. I am in awe of all of the performers— Such an honor and privilege to work with the amazing Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra.
2017
Ten Thousand Blooms, Falling Petals
Ten Thousand Blooms, Falling Petals for Traditional Korean Orchestra was commissioned by the National Gugak Orchestra for the Pacific Rim Music Festival. This ambitious project began with workshops, readings and a two-week instrumental workshop at the Gugak Center in Seoul in 2015. It culminated with three excellent performances in October/December 2017 at the Music Recital Hall/UC Santa Cruz, the Hertz Hall/UC Berkeley, and the National Gugak Center, Seoul, Korea. Hats off to the director Hi-Kyung Kim for her vision and enormous hard work on this project—I am honored to be a part of it.
na ya i ya i for acapella chorus
na ya i ya i for acapella chorus, a part of collaborative theater work The Pilgrimage , was premiered on September 29 in the Spotlight Concert series at the National Theater & Concert Hall, Taiwan. I’m very honored to be part of this project with a group of fun and wonderful Taiwanese composers. Many thanks to Ching-Wen Chao for curation this concert series.
