This piece is commissioned by Xiamen Foreign Language School (XMFLS), China, in commemorating its 40th anniversary, and is designed to a level suitable for the School Orchestra. 

天风海涛, literally translated as ‘sky, wind, sea, and wave’, is an ancient depiction of the sublime costal view of Fujian province, China, and is used specifically to signify the view of Kulangsu, an island where XMFLS was founded in 1981. This piece takes inspirations from each of the four words and an impression of the entire phrase. The main pitch motif that starts the piece corresponds to the school’s name — X(i)-M(i)-F(a)-L(a)-S(ol).

2021 ©️ Jerry Yue Zhuo

Sea Panorama 天风海涛 (simulation)

I-D-T (2020)
for Violoncello, Joystick Player, and Pre-recorded Tape
Performed and recorded by Jerry Zhuo (2nd version, August 2021)

First performed on 2 January, 2020 in Xiamen, China under the title 'Suffocation', the materials have since been rearranged to focus on a different issue: identity.

The phrase occurs throughout the piece is 'Who am I, I cannot remember' in Minnanese (the dialect of Xiamen, China). The piece can be performed by the joystick player alone (with a prerecorded Cello track).

I-D-T (2nd performance)

This piece is inspired by the titular poem by Li Qingzhao (1084-1155, Song dynasty), who recalls a memory from the good old time in the poem. The piece is an impression of the poem visually and sonically, combining the past (memory) and the present (the time this story is told). Premiered in June 2022 during the 12th Biennial International Conference on ‘Music Since 1900’, Birmingham, by Yajie Ye (mezzo-soprano) and Jerry Yue Zhuo (piano).

Dream: Pavilion by the Water

Performed by the Hooting Cow Collective
5 April 2019, St Martin's Church, Caerphilly

This piece takes inspiration from religious chanting and incorporates the belief in the existence of inner energy in worldly objects. The piano could be seen as a source of external energy (e.g. ‘wind’), that provokes and guides the energy within other players and their instruments, creating an ever-changing radiance of sound. The score consists of various groups of materials, from which players have to make a random choice of the sound they will iterate each time. Such improvisatory impulse is then balanced by the carefully designed pentatonic harmony.

Wind Spells [for Piano and 5 Instruments]

Envisioning a dream made during a summer afternoon nap. It is so fragile and mutable by whatever intrudes its realm, so it is never too deep, too real, but yet full of colours. It is like a heterophonic song from home, or a piece of memory that you have overlooked. It is sad, but happy. It is simple, but addictive.

This composition was written for the VICE ensemble, in participation of the 2019 Valencia International Performance Academy & Festival.

Like a Dream, Not a Dream [Live]

Dream Nostalgic (2019)
for One Player: Double Bass, Japanese Bell, and Electronics
Premiere | Three Shadows-Xiamen | 2019.8.31 | Jerry Zhuo

Dream Nostalgic 家乡梦 [Live]

New Summer No.7

Recorded by Jerry Zhuo
Our memory is naturally fragmented. Imagination -- a metaphysical glue that puts memory together. Identity -- the memory of memory that lacks the suitable glue. 碎(sui), fragmented, broken, crushed...

Sui 碎

Dr Jerry Yue Zhuo is a composer, improviser, and ensemble leader. He is a Lecturer in Composition at Cardiff University School of Music.

Jerry Yue Zhuo

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