orchestral

chamber orchestra
2222/2200/timp/1perc/strings
duration 10:30

Isaiah 55: 10-12

10
     As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11
     so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12
     You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

*performed by the Uppsala kammarorkester; winner of the 2014 Uppsala Tonsättartävling and Publikens Pris*

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands

Sonata a 4 Mains-Rustique/Poulenc

Live performance of the US Premiere of Chen Yi's viola concerto, Xian Shi, with Michael Hall, viola and the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Matthew Kasper, conductor.  Xian Shi is the first viola concerto written by a Chinese composer. 

Chen Yi –  "Xian Shi" Concerto for viola and orchestra. American Premiere

From the new album of Mason Bates' symphonic music with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Released Dec 2015, it features numerous pieces that have never been released before. 
Purchase the album on iTunes (http://apple.co/1NYzF0W), Amazon (http://amzn.to/1NJuHn1), Google Play (http://bit.ly/1RddG6N) or the BMOP site (http://bit.ly/1M68IRF). 

Sea-Blue Circuitry - BMOP (excerpt)

An end scene music cue for a fantasy action/martial arts/romance film set in ancient China.....in which everyone flies around..because why not?

Crouching Tabby, Hidden Gecko

Desh'mieve Malanai

Performed May 31, 2016 by the EOS Repertoire Orchestra, conducted by Jiao Wang at the 2016 Beijing Modern Music Festival in the Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China.

The beauty and order of fractals never ceases to amaze me, from the simplicity of the Sierpinski Triangle to the incredible complexity within the Mandelbrot set. I am mesmerized by videos that zoom ad infinitum into one of these fractals, revealing the same shapes over and over, gradually transformed by subtle and complex processes. In Fractal Miniatures, I have strung eight short movements together that each reflect my impressions of various fractals, taking them as pieces of art. 

The eight movements are arranged symmetrically, with the fifth movement as the focal point. The outer movements, named after the famous Sierpinski Triangle, are rhythmic and unyielding, pounding away at incessant rhythms through massive swells and dips. The second movement, flowsnake, is a spoonerism of snowflake, and is a simple space-filling fractal. This movement concentrates on sinewy flowing lines that spiral around one another. The third and seventh movements both open the same way, with the cello and percussion fading in ethereally into a pointillistic texture. The third movement, Newton Fractal continues this idea in a somewhat fitful manner, with various instruments taking turns with interjections. The seventh, Nova Fractal, is more linear, featuring a muted trumpet solo over an amorphous soup of string trills. 

The fourth and sixth movements are named after the Dragon Curve, another space-filling curve. These two movements are abrupt and explosive, with sharp attacks and caustic gestures. They are also almost-exact mirror images of each other. The central movement of the set is named for arguably the most easily-recognized fractal, the Mandelbrot Set. Scored without percussion, the musical shape of this movement mimics the characteristic bulbous shape of the fractal. An underlying ostinato in 7/8 sets the stage for soaring lines and expansive harmonies.

Fractal Miniatures was originally written for the SONAR new music ensemble as a mixed nonet. For more information, please visit http://www.rogerzare.com/fractal_miniatures.htm

Fractal Miniatures for orchestra

Music by Tommy Dougherty
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Live at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 25, 2015

Eight World Premieres

Particularly Competitive

Composer: Yii Kah Hoe
Wind Quintet: Pan-Pacific Ensemble
Flute: Sophia Tegart
Oboe:  Keri McCarthy 
Clarinet:
Horn: Martin King
Bassoon: Michael R. Garza
Photo by Yii Kah Hoe

Venue: China-ASEAN Music Week at Nanning China
Date: June 9, 2016





Equatorial rainforest for wind quintet_excerpt

Commissioned and premiered by Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Shi Yeon Sung
Live recording from its premiere.

Cinematic Fantasy No. 3 "Theme for a Young Hero" (mockup)

Conducted by Jebat Kee and performed by members of the Shepherd School of Music orchestra. Recorded on 10/23/16.

Beltway 8

9-10 minutes. String orchestra (Vln I, Vln II, Vla, Vcl, DB). Performed by USC Thornton School of Music musicians, conducted by the composer.

Beautiful places and spaces are inherently mysterious. The music in the piece is meant to depict not a specific landscape, but the experience of exploring a new place. Questions turn to discoveries as the soloists ruminate on what is before them. After a while the music embraces the search, scaling a mountain of notes before returning to meditation.

Loneliness In A Beautiful Place (for string orchestra)

Clint Needham's Album

Everyday Life

1. Monsoon Storm
2. Sunrise through the Trees
3. Song of the Rainforest
4. Fire, the Giver and Destroyer of Life
5. Dance of Oneness (including some Rice Wine)
6. Canopy Dreams

STIRRINGS within the Rainforest somewhere in Southeast Asia (6 movements)

Premiered by the USC Thornton Symphony, conducted by Donald Crockett.

Several of my recent pieces concern themselves with dichotomies, or pairs of ideas that push and pull against each other. I find that I have difficulty writing unless I have at least two opposing concepts that I can somehow “compose between.”  Rest and Restless carries this process out with regards to emotional states – I would describe the piece as an “emotional landscape.”  The music slowly alternates, pendulum-like, from low angst-broodings to brighter hopes, back and forth, but without letting either mood "win" over the other. These forces eventually come to a head in a tutti explosion, followed by a stark coda that, to me, feels either optimistic or dejected, depending on what mood I am in. Whenever I try to write this program note my mind keeps coming back to an image of looking out my bedroom window at the evening clouds, my imagination being ignited by the simultaneously serene and troubled shapes of grey. Perhaps the music reflects that fantasy in some emotional fashion.

The piece was originally composed as a solo for double bass for a concert I was giving at university. Without any significant pre-compositional preparations, I set about writing the piece with only a few simple goals in mind: that the piece would be overtly expressive yet interesting to listen to, that it would be manageable for a player to learn quickly, and that it would demand a diverse range of a playing techniques from the single instrument. My decision to orchestrate the piece was based on the impression that the almost constant double stops and high range harmonics on the bass created a texture interesting enough to hear with an orchestral palate. I have tried to preserve the feeling of low, open strings throughout the piece, while adding a greater variety of timbres and layers to the melodic passages.

Rest And Restless (for orchestra)

for Orchestra (in 4 scenes)

I. We Shall Fight (0:00-5:52)
II. Burgeon of Strength (5:53-9:17)
III. Noble Morn (9:18-14:20)
IV. The March (14:05-19:06)

CHURCHILL'S WAR for Orchestra is the next in my series of works in the realm of music and speech, exploring the inward affect of their shared physical traits (pitch, rhythm, and amplitude). The piece highlights Churchill's stirring vocal performance. Occasionally, orchestral sonorities are combined with processed recordings of Churchill's speech, weaving together sonic textures and illuminations, viscerally re- contextualizing Churchill's oration while revealing connections between melody and text.

DREW SCHNURR (2013)

Churchill's War

Kangyi has performed on various stages in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States. As a composer, his music are often programmatic and based on personal life and experiences. He also aims to raise public awareness on important historical events. 

Music Scores: http://kangyimusic.storenvy.com
Music Licence: http://www.pond5.com/artist/protestahkang971
Music Services: http://www.kangyizhang.com/freelance.html
SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/kangyi-zhang
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kangyiflute

orchestral

Kangyi Zhang