"Three Fridas"
I. Self-Portrait
II. Henry Ford Hospital
III. The Wounded Deer

Performed by Jakob Lenhardt (clarinet), Grace Kawamura (violin), Lian Ojakangas (violin), Abigail Choi (viola), and Julia Knowles (cello).

http://ninashekhar.com/three-fridas/

Three Fridas (complete)

Latrodectus (2016)

L and I drink matcha. Frothy, deliciously complex matcha.

All sound sources taken from DavidsTea 'The Matcha Essentials' set and processed through Cecilia5 and Reaper64.

Matcha Made In Heaven

Recorded at Reservoir Studios in NYC, June 2017

Next Festival of Emerging Artists Orchestra

Peter Askim, Conductor

Next Fest 2017

Re:Babel for String Orchestra

David Yi, Yale Philharmonia
12/7/17

Wrest deals intimately with the liminality of the unconscious, and specifically with how the mind moves through stages of unconsciousness fluidly and with a kind of inexorable and invisible momentum. It’s a piece about the way we drift through these liminal spaces as we sleep — and the things that we carry with us without understanding why. It’s also an in memoriam, of sorts, to my grandmother Elizabeth Ann Greenhoe, who died in the summer of 2017 and whose life and death impacted me profoundly.

2/7/17

Wrest for Orchestra

Kol Galgal - (2017) - for orchestra

2.3.2.2 , 4.3.3.1, shofar, timpani + 3 perc, harp, piano, strings

NEC Philharmonia, 12.8.17, Jordan Hall.
Gavin Wright, shofar
Stuart Ryerse, piano
Matthew Szymanski, conductor

Winner of a BMI Student Composer Award in 2018.

The text of Kol Galgal is found in the Zohar, the foundational writings of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. Often attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in second-century ancient Israel, the Zohar was codified and first published in a combination of medieval Aramaic and Hebrew by Rabbi Moses de León in fourteenth-century Spain. The Zohar is a group of books that include commentaries on the Torah (the five books of Moses), and dialogues of the mystical and spiritual origin and nature of God, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. It is understood that only those with high degrees of spiritual perception are permitted to study the Zohar, and that the Zohar is a guide of actions to discover deeper and elevated states of spiritual and metaphysical awareness. One of the most important elements of study of the Zohar is the understanding of the Sefirot, or ‘emanations.’ The Sefirot are ten attributes in which God reveals and manifests itself and continuously creates and maintains the physical, spiritual, and metaphysical realms. The Sefirot are the essence of our existence and our co-existence with God, or the Ein Sof, ‘the Infinite one.’ They are directly referenced in the text of Kol Galgal, which is as follows:

Kol Galgal hamitgalgel mimatah l’malah, merchovot stomot holchot u’mitgalg’lot. Kol n’imot oleh v’yored, holech u’m’shotet ba’olam.
Kol shofar nimshach b’omkei hamad’r’got, u’m’sovev hagalgal saviv.

The voice of the wheel rolls from low to high, as obstructed chariots wander and roll. The voices of melodies rise and fall as they wander and encircle the universe. The voice of the Shofar reverberates through the depths of the Sefirot, and they keep the wheel turning.

Kol Galgal expresses a physical, spiritual, and metaphysical universe in constant perpetual motion. It is a universe in which we all have the capability and headspace to be a part of and to be one with. The in-depth study of this text and other Kabbalistic texts have resonated greatly with me. Perhaps it is that I am named for Rabbi Isaac Luria, also known as ‘HaAri,’ the 16th century father of modern Kabbalah.

Kol Galgal - orchestra - (2017)

Quirkhead (2017) - 2018 ASCAP Morton Gould Awards Finalist
For soprano and string quartet

Performed by Tony Arnold (soprano) and Third Angle New Music:
Ron Blessinger (violin), Greg Ewer (violin), Charles Noble (viola), and Marilyn de Oliveira (cello)

Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music Concert
Portland, Oregon - October 21st, 2017

http://ninashekhar.com/quirkhead/

Program notes: 
I was born a quirkhead.  I was the little girl who tapped every wall she walked by and believed that vegetables had feelings.  I made up thought rituals that I would perform every day to alleviate my fears of losing those I loved.  I counted the number of times I swallowed, and I put my hangers in my closet a certain way because I was terrified that one item out of place would trigger the next apocalypse.  And it would be all my fault.
     I didn’t know that millions of others lived this way, until my seventh grade teacher observed that I wrote sentences in a specific arrangement.  I was both amazed she noticed and completely mortified that someone had seen my most vulnerable self that I had been trying to hide for so long.  I explained to her that I associate letters and words with certain connotations, and because I like the word “left” better than “right,” I write the words I like better to the left and the ones less so to the right.  After hearing about some of my other rituals, she told me about obsessive-compulsive disorder.  I felt liberated knowing that I was not alone, but I grew to hate myself.  I felt so ashamed that everyday tasks that were so easy to others felt impossible for me to complete.
     Through years of counseling and self-healing, most of the tics subsided.  But it took me years to realize that having OCD didn’t make me a horrible human being.  In fact, it made me a better one because it gave me immense patience and diligence through performing endless compulsions.  It allowed me to be more accepting and empathetic towards others.  And it made me love those close to me more.  My brain will always be wired differently, but maybe that’s okay.  And I’m finally proud to be myself – I’m proud to be a quirkhead.
     This work was created under the aegis of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy for Music and premiered by Tony Arnold and Third Angle New Music in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, October 21st, 2017.  Many thanks to Gabriela Lena Frank for her incredible kindness, support, and guidance while writing this piece, and to Tony Arnold, Ron Blessinger, Greg Ewer, Charles Noble, and Marilyn de Oliveira for their extraordinary musicianship throughout.

Text:
dog to the left
            fish to the right
bear to the left
            pig to the right
cow to the left
            shark to the right

how do I know it’s real
this hurting, wounding suffering?
how do I know this wrecking
blistering figment of my imagination,
the demons lurking in my mind?
rest, brain.
close your eyes.
let’s quiet those voices,
and sleep until we wake up.

out of the bed, left side
hands to the floor
now turn around
and run around the bed three times and go
faster
into the bathroom
tap the faucet four times
touch the floor, touch the wall
turn the lights
            on, off, on, off
need to finish by eight forty-two
wash your hands
wash them again and again
            until their chapped
dog to the left
blink six times now
oh no, it’s eight forty-one
            fish to the right
need to finish
must finish now.

must save my loved ones
must sacrifice myself for them
my heart
            my soul
my mind is ready to snap

oh no, I didn’t make it
i’m sorry that I love you.
but maybe I should love myself a little more
and see how beautiful this haunted mind is
because it’s not my fault.

and I don’t know what the future will hold
but tomorrow is a new day.

Tony Tony Tony

Quirkhead (Tony Arnold & Third Angle New Music)

No Vice City, directed by Yuan Yao, was selected as a semi-finalist in Los Angeles CineFest 
----
Ching-Shan is an award-winning composer, producer, arranger, orchestrator, pianist, and conductor based in Los Angeles.

Website: www.chingshanchang.com
Follow me on SoundCloud:
@chingshanchang
Follow me on Vimeo: 
vimeo.com/chingshanchang
Follow me on Instagram:
www.instagram.com/cschang0923
Follow me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/chingshanchang1

No Vice City (2017)

When I look around myself for an idea, when I feel as though I have nothing to work with, when I feel as though I am nothing, when I've been made to feel that I am nothing, I look to the strong women that surround me for inspiration. Women's stories are tales of strength, perseverance, fire, and drive. And as the tides of history churn, gaining momentum, it's no longer dangerous to declare that now it's our turn--the women's turn.

The text for this piece is: "Hush now, baby. Don't say a word. Now it's time for the women's turn."

Don't say a word (2017) // Eighth Blackbird & Annika Socolofsky

Higaleh Nah
for soprano solo, viola, SATB chorus, and piano
(2018)

Winner of the University of Michigan 2019 Brehm Prize in Choral Composition and a 2021 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Award

University of Michigan Chamber Choir
Maggie Burk, solo soprano
Jimmy Cunningham, solo viola
Scott VanOrnum, piano
Eugene Rogers, conductor
(9.21.2019, Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan).

Y’did Nefesh is a Jewish liturgical poem, or piyut, in four stanzas. The poem is commonly attributed to the 16th century Kabbalist, writer, and poet Rabbi Elazar ben Moshe Azkari, and is typically sung and prayed during Kabbalat Shabbat, the Friday night Sabbath service. The Higaleh Nah stanza is the fourth and final stanza of this stunning piyut.

"Higaleh nah u’fros, chaviv alai et sukat sh’lomach, tair eretz mi’k’vodach, nagilah v’nis’mechah vach, maher ahuv ki va moed
v’choneini kimei olam, almaya…"

"Please, reveal yourself, my beloved, and spread upon me the shelter of Your peace. Illuminate the earth with Your glory, so that we may celebrate and rejoice within You. Quickly, my love, for the time has come. Have mercy on me for all days, forever."

Higaleh Nah - soprano solo, viola, SATB chorus, and piano - (2018)

Performed by Orchestra of the Music Makers
11th Jan 2019 - Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conducted by Seow Yibin

OMM Goes to the Movies 3

===

Cover Art: (2019) by Jonathan Lim
Instagram: whereartjon
Email: jon.lim@live.com

===

Childhood was tedium and bore, so whenever a pasar malam rolled into our estate, unfurling its train of colors, smells, and sounds, I would be whipped into delirious, arm-pulling, muah-chee frenzy: it is these memories that inspired this composition.

While listening to this overture, I invite you to conjure a cinematic sequence: on a hot tropical night, beneath a blood moon, a bazaar shimmers into existence. A young boy darts through the crowd, consuming the market in all its glory, before having his breath taken away by the sight of a beautiful girl (represented by the melody of P. Ramlee’s Getaran Jiwa). However, their new friendship is threatened by an ominous turn that might tear them asunder. A familiar tune – at least to all conscripted Singaporeans – arises. Will darkness take root, or will their friendship triumph?

Welcome to The Night Bazaar!

===

This work is dedicated to my father.

Latrodectus (2016)

Ben Scheer

Related tracks