Underwater Acoustics (2018)

Commissioned by American Opera Projects for the Chautauqua Opera Company
Part of the Composer-in-Residence program at the 2018 Chautauqua Opera

Team

2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Harp, Timpani, Percussion, Strings. Mezzo-Soprano.

Preface

Underwater Acoustics (2018) is a concert aria for mezzo-soprano and orchestra on the poem by Rajiv Mohabir. The work was composed specifically for the semi-outdoor amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institute, and incorporates a quiet hum from the audience at the piece's conclusion, inviting audiences to consider all the sounds of their surrounding environment as an integral part of the listening experience.

Underwater Acoustics was commissioned by American Opera Projects for the Chautauqua Opera Company as part of the 2018 Chautauqua Opera Composer-in-Residence program.

Heard

Underwater Acoustics received its world premiere on July 14, 2018 at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater, with Steven Osgood conducting the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, featuring mezzo-soprano Alexandra Rodrick.

Photos by Dave Munch.

Shrewsbury Fair (2017-20)

Team

Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone 1, Alto Saxophone 2, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Trumpet 1, Trumpet 2, Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (4 players)

Preface

Shrewsbury Fair (2017) is a three-movement work inspired by locations in the town of Shrewsbury in Central Massachusetts. The work opens with Roundabout March, a short march constructed as a round that describes an imaged parade towards Artemas Ward House on Main Street. Dean Park In Autumn is a short study of the colors found in the iconic New England fall foliage. The work ends with Quinsigamond Race Day, an exciting boat race on the lake that separates Shrewsbury and Worcester.

Heard

• World premiere at Oak Middle School, Shrewsbury, MA on January 26, 2018, with Anthony Uglialoro, conductor.

• Shrewsbury High School Concert Band, Shrewsbury MA on April 24, 2018, with Brian Liporto, conductor.

Shrewsbury Fair was commissioned by the Shrewsbury Music / Theatre Association for the Oak Middle School Bands, Anthony Uglialoro, director. Supported in part by a grant from the Shrewsbury Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Claire de Lune on Hammer Hill (2012)

for Orchestra
Commissioned by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta

Jason Lai and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre

Team

2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 B-flat Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Trombone, Timpani, Percussion (one player), Strings

Preface

Clair de Lune on Hammer Hill (2012) is a setting of a well-known Cantonese folksong. The work was commissioned by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and was first performed by the orchestra on June 15, 2012, at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, with Jason Lai, conductor.

Heard

• June 15-17, 2012 Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Jason Lai, conductor; Hong Kong City Hall Theatre
  
  

The Gestures of Farewell (2010)

A Note

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• In the U.S. – Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433.

• In the UK and Ireland – Call Samaritans UK at 116 123

• In Australia – Call Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14

• In other countries – Visit IASP or Suicide.org to find a helpline in your country.

Team

2 Flutes (2nd doubles Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 B-flat Clarinets (2nd doubles E-flat Clarinet), 2 Bassoons (2nd doubles Contrabassoon), 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (Brake Drum, Two Bell Trees, Large Tam-Tam, Small Suspended Cymbal, Large Suspended Cymbal, Piccolo Snare Drum, Crash Cymbals, SIx Woodblocks, Large Sizzle Cymbal, Small Tam-Tam, Large Lion’s Roar), Harp, Narrator (amplified), Strings

Heard

• March 4, 2010, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, with Yip Wing-sie, conductor, and Jason Lai, narrator. Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong, China. Part of the 38th Hong Kong Arts Festival.

The Queen's Gramophone (2009)

For Orchestra
Commissioned by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center

Team

2 Flutes (2nd doubles Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 B-flat Clarinets (2nd doubles E-flat Clarinet), 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 1 Trombone, Timpani, Percussion (Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Small Crash Cymbals, Glockenspiel, Piccolo Snare Drum, Claves, Sandpaper Blocks, Bass Drum, Tam-Tam, Splash Cymbal, Triangle, Bongos), Strings

Preface

How do I write a piece of music for a city where I was born, grew up, and have since left almost 18 years ago?

My most vivid memories and images of Hong Kong remain frozen in 1992, the year that I left for the United States. The colony and its booming economy await anxiously for reunification, while my friends from school and their families emigrated to various places around the world to avoid what they expected to be an impending catastrophe. This nostalgia for a bygone time and place reminded me of the way Wong Kar-Wai framed colonial Hong Kong in his films; the antique sensuality of In The Mood For Love, the bittersweet surrealism in Chungking Express, the fragmented future of 2046 – they all look to a collective memory of the past to comment on the contemporary.

For The Queen’s Gramophone, I decided to write about Hong Kong by similarly evoking a collective nostalgia, in the form of an imaginary gramophone at a nightclub in 1950s Hong Kong, in an imaginary black-and-white Cantonese movie:

“A couple sits at a table in an empty restaurant, staring coldly just beyond each other. To break the silence, the man gestures for the waiter, tips him, and instructs him to turn on the jukebox. The record player teases out an unfamiliar tune. The couple stands up, the woman puts her arms on the man’s shoulders, they begin to dance. They dance, and the evening begins its slow dissolve.”

In memory of Nicholas Maw.

Heard

• November 6, 2009, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, with Yip Wing-sie, conductor. Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong, China.

Anniversaries (2009)

Live recording by the University of Idaho Wind Ensemble, November 16, 2017, with Paul Thompson, conductor.

Commissioned by the Charles River Wind Ensemble

Team

Solo Sextet: b-flat clarinet, oboe, bassoon, alto saxophone, horn, trombone

Wind Ensemble: piccolo, 2 flutes, 1 oboe, 3 b-flat clarinets, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, 3 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 trombones, euphonium, tuba, double bass, timpani, percussion (3 players)

Preface

Anniversaries is a short concerto grosso scored for six solo instruments (clarinet, oboe, bassoon, alto saxophone, horn and trombone) and wind ensemble. I treated the solo sextet as a single composite wind instrument (much like an organ) that plays together as a cohesive unit throughout, blending its six unique colors into one dynamic, breathing musical voice. The counterweight of the full wind ensemble highlights and supports the soloists, but can also obliterate them, maintaining a somewhat precarious relationship between the two sides. The work marks the cyclical passage of time with a recurring sense of bittersweet nostalgia – past memories as perfect pictures framed in a collective imagination.

Anniversaries was commissioned by the Charles River Wind Ensemble in commemoration of its tenth anniversary. The Ensemble premiered the work with conductor Eric Hewitt on June 14, 2009, in Newton, Massachusetts.

Heard

• November 16, 2017: University of Idaho Wind Ensemble, Paul Thompson, conductor.

• June 14, 2009: Charles River Wind Ensemble, Eric Hewitt, conductor.

Loud Sunsets (2008)

Recorded live on April 3, 2008, Duke University Wind Symphony, Emily Threinen, conductor.

Team

1 Piccolo
3 Flute 1
3 Flute 2
2 Oboe 1
2 Oboe 2
3 Clarinet in B-flat 1
3 Clarinet in B-flat 2
3 Clarinet in B-flat 3
1 Bass Clarinet
1 Bassoon 1
1 Bassoon 2
2 Alto Saxophone in E-flat
1 Tenor Saxophone in B-flat
1 Baritone Saxophone in E-flat
3 Trumpet in B-flat 1
3 Trumpet in B-flat 2
2 Trumpet in B-flat 3
2 Horn in F 1
2 Horn in F 2
2 Trombone 1
2 Trombone 2
2 Trombone 3
2 Euphonium
3 Tuba
1 Timpani
1 Percussion 1: Glockenspiel, Vibraphone (motor off), Snare Drum
1 Percussion 2: Crash Cymbals, Large Tam-Tam, Large Triangle, Marimba, Finger Cymbal
1 Percussion 3: Crotales (two-octave set**), Small Tam-Tam, Large Bass Drum, Large Suspended Cymbal (with a dark sound)

Preface

The sunsets in North Carolina are different from the ones that I grew up with in Boston. Even here in Durham, one of the largest cities in the state, tall buildings are few and far between. As I drive home everyday on highway 15-501, when afternoon slowly turns into dusk, the sun settles calmly against an expansive sky. The colors are bright, herds of clouds make their way across the horizon, and the city’s steady turn towards evening has always commanded this commuter’s attention.

Loud Sunsets was written in 2007 for the Boston University Concert Band, Chris Parks, director, commissioned by the Theta Beta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi. The work was premiered by the Duke University Wind Symphony with conductor Emily Threinen. I’d like to especially thank the brothers of Theta Beta for making this project possible.

Heard

• April 3, 2008, Duke University Wind Symphony, Emily Threinen, conductor (Durham, NC)

• April 26, 2008, Boston University Concert Band, Chris Parks, conductor (Boston, MA)