Inspired by the music of Taiwan's Amis People and the field studies of Prof. Khóo Siông-hui (許常惠) in the 60s, Trio for Three Violins is a 4-movement creative dialogue between the Amis music and the Western Sonata.

Jung Tsai, 1st violin
Stephen Sitarski, 2nd violin
Lance Ouellette, 3rd violin

Trio for Three Violins. Movement IV. Allegro Gioioso

Trio for Three Violins. Movement III. Tema e Variazioni

Trio for Three Violins

Trio for Three Violins. Movement II. Adagio Misterioso

Trio for Three Violins. Movement I. Andantino

First in a choral trilogy, Zhong-Zhuang Suite, and set against the backdrop of a rural Taiwanese town in the early 80s, Child and Kitten tells the story of a little girl who rescued a street kitten only to lose it to senseless violence at the hands of playground bullies.

In this piece, the little girl’s happy innocence and the bullies’ cruelty are served as a symbol of the dissonance between a farming culture and the rapid industrialization that relentlessly dismantled the former's slower and gentler way of life.

Using melismatic passages and nuanced repetitions distinctive to the traditional Taiwanese music, and building upon a structure characteristic of the Western classical music, this piece is a dialogue between the composer’s own musical heritage and that of the West.

This piece was written for and performed by Babel Chorus, conducted by Elaine Choi, in partnership with Canadian Music Centre.

Child And Kitten, for SATB Choir a Cappella

Song II from A Pilgrim's Songs, for soprano, piano and violoncello. Text adapted from Psalm 22 and sung in Chinese Mandarin. World premiere in Taipei, Taiwan, 2012, by Chia-Hui Chuang, soprano, Zao-En Din, piano, Yiying Wei, cello.

II.深淵. Shen-Yuen, from A Pilgrim's Songs, for soprano, piano and violoncello

As music students, my sister and I used to devise grotesque and buffoonish tunes on the keyboard for fun as a way to blow off some steam. We always aimed for “俗又有力," a Taiwanese expression, which could be translated as “powerfully tacky.”

One of such tunes became the main theme of this piece and its original comical nature is peeled away to reveal agony—one of the prevalent human spirits behind arts grotesque and comedic.

World premiere by McGill Contemporary Ensemble, Montreal, Canada, 2001.

String Quartet No.1

Song V from A Pilgrim's Songs, for soprano, piano and violoncello. Text adapted from Psalm 103 and sung in Chinese Mandarin. Malaysia premiere in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 2020, by Cecilia Yap, soprano, Elaine Pao, piano, Joshua Sim, cello.

V. 慈愛. Ci-Ai, from A Pilgrim's Songs, for soprano, piano and violoncello

Song III from A Pilgrim's Songs, for soprano, piano and violoncello. Text adapted from Psalm 42 and sung in Chinese Mandarin. World premiere in Taipei, Taiwan, 2012, by Chia-Hui Chuang, soprano, Zao-En Din, piano, Yiying Wei, cello.

III.仰望 - Yang - Wang, from A Pilgrim's Songs, for soprano, piano and violoncello

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin with Narration

Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Matt Hardy
https://unsplash.com/photos/55NI4yEAas4

Theppa of Crinis. The Woeful Voyage (Part I-22), for solo violin and narration

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin with Narration
Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Yann Caradec  https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/47728189462/sizes/l/

Theppa of Crinis—Postlude (Part II-25), for solo violin and narration

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin with Narration
Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Richard Mortel  https://www.flickr.com/photos/prof_richard/8219780913/sizes/l/

Theppa of Crinis—A Rumour (Part III-6), for solo violin and narration

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin With Narration
Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Timo Horstschaefer
https://unsplash.com/photos/oF7HCujXyg0

Theppa of Crinis—Familiar Faces (Part III-15), for solo violin and narration

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin with Narration
Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Nate Watson
https://unsplash.com/photos/U_PU9yXC98w

Theppa of Crinis—Crinis (Part III—18), for solo violin and narration

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin with Narration
Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Patrick Schneider https://unsplash.com/photos/4zOsQ8LtBAM

Theppa of Crinis—The Chase (Part III—24), for solo violin and narration

Theppa of Crinis—A Saga for Solo Violin with Narration
Violin, Wan-Ting Yang
Photo Credit, Kym MacKinnon 
unsplash.com/photos/HmzdWOgWVYE

Chia Yin Wu

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