This piece was partly inspired after watching the TED talk “The Neuroscience of Decision-Making: Are We Foul or Fair?” by Kimberly Papillon. Facial features, accents or just a name can change our decisions dramatically. Two equally qualified persons can be either accepted or rejected for a job due to implicit associations of their names. Accents can create unconscious bias of intelligence and competence. Facial features can skew us in our judgement of someone’s trustworthiness.

Judging can be taken at multiple dimensions. The score starts off with repetitive quarter notes before progressing in complexity. My challenge was to convey the idea “Never judge a music by the score”. I wanted the players to perceive classical Mozart as equally challenging as modern complex scores like Ferneyhough and Xenakis. I have encountered numerous complex scores involving quintuplets, septuplets etc. which are impossible to be precise and in-sync with other human players. Here, I challenge myself to limit this score to the basic rhythms: duplets, triplets and quadruplets.

Another judging dimension occurs in the performance aspect. A tight-knit duo is mandated by the precise interactions between the violinist and pianist. This creates the vision of two players as one single entity.

Judging from the opening music, the listener (with no access to the score) forms preconceived notions about the minimalistic approach of the remainder of the piece. This is similar to how we rapidly form definitive first impressions about someone from non-verbal observations. Each listener holds a different schema and judges how the music will progress - as anticipated or with surprises. My belief of the ideal would be a healthy balance of both.

Always Judging for Violin and Piano

Boston, 3rd July 2015
by Kangyi Zhang (music) and Nicole Tay Liling (text)
Nadine Kulberg (mezzo soprano) Ivan Tan (pianist)

Good morning my friend 
When did I last see you?
I think it was down by the bridge 
Where broken eyes go to mend
Where we laugh with the fool 

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the games we played
In the smoky air of the roaring night 
Now I wonder - have you learned about
What we spoke of that day?
 
Can you remember when we stood in the crowd
Gazing into the eyes of the singer
Believing the songs were for us
We were none the wiser
 
Good night my friend
When will I next see you?
I hope it will be across the bridge
With no more broken eyes to mend
Where we'll still laugh with the fool.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Leaving my Old Shell’ speaks of a girl who is both nostalgic about home, yet excited about the uncertain future. This text was written when my friend, Nicole Tay, was leaving Singapore for her studies at Cambridge, UK. A similar theme occurs in ‘Chasm’ where a girl yearns for love after being separated from her lover. Moments of nostalgia and hope resurface amidst her dreadful isolation. 

Several musical ideas are inspired by the text and they can be easily identified. For example, in the first movement, the piano responds with gestures for ‘sunrise’ and ‘trickling down’. The small rising and falling piano gesture after ‘sunrise’ reappears in the second movement to mark the start of the recitative (singing in free time). The piano tremolos after ‘memories’ in the first movement reappears at ‘I wonder’ and ‘roaring night’, the last example being in a much more ominous mood.

I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to Ivan Tan and Nadine Kulberg for this collaboration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright (c) 2015
http://www.kangyizhang.com/
http://nadinekulberg.com/

Songs of Separation - 2. Chasm

Le Boeuf: Don't Say A Word

Taken from the soundtrack to 'Tabu'.
Released via Gizeh Records on December 16th 2016.
www.christineott.fr/disques.html

The live soundtrack "Tabu, a story of the south seas",
created in 2012 on the movie by F.W. Murnau & Robert Flaherty
All tracks composed & performed by Christine Ott
with Torsten Böttcher on 2, 6 & 9
Christine Ott : Piano, Ondes Martenot, Percussions
Torsten Böttcher : Hang

• • •

1. First Chapter - Paradise
2. Reri
3. Consolation
4. Course Vers La Mer
5. Hitu, La Grande Montagne
6. Sorrow / Lover's Dance
7. The Warning
8. Paradise Lost
9. Oriental Dance
10. Mandat d'Arrêt / La Perle
11. Hitu's Appearance
12. Cursed Lagoon
13. Hitu's Shadow
14. Le Sourire de Matahi / Consolation (Var. I)
15. Comptoir Chinois
16. Consolation (Variation II)
17. Rêve & Perle Noire
18. Tempête / The Tabu

• • •

Christine Ott is giving us, with this new album, her first inspiration to the screen - spontaneous and sometimes fragile. There is indeed a secret link which joins together Reri, daughter of the water, to Christine, sister of the Ondes Martenot. In these pure moments when Ott’s piano becomes a waterfall, a river, an ocean. In these heartbreaking moments when the composer, without ever over-playing manages to simply let go, thanks to a very mysterious and fascinating instrument, the tears that the audience may not always dare to have. [Thierry Méranger, Les Cahiers du Cinéma]

Le Sourire De Matahi - Consolation (variation I)

10th December 2017, 7.30pm, Victoria Concert Hall
Postcards from Singapore
premiered by Soh Wei Qi
2017 National Piano & Violin Competition (Singapore) 
Prize Winners Concert
Set piece for senior category

In this work, I share three different facets of Singapore which I find unique. Music materials are derived from several Malay folk-songs popular in the Malay Archipelago (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.) – Dayung Sampan, Chan Mali Chan, Rasa Sayang. The work begins with “Civilian War Memorial” to highlight the trials and tribulations suffered during WWII. Located prominently in the heart of the central business district, this memorial reminds us of the war atrocities, particularly the Sook Ching massacre. The peaceful melody of Dayung Sampan gradually gains momentum and a sense of grief.

Next, I write about “Hawker Centres”, a fast polyrhythmic section where Rasa Sayang melody is juxtaposed with Chan Mali Chan. I have always been impressed by how overseas Singaporeans are willing to drive long distances for great Asian food. At our local food paradise, the atmosphere is joyful amidst the intense noise and chaos. Singaporeans fight aggressively for seats and “chope” the tables with tissue packets or other objects. To symbolize this, the pianist taps the piano loudly. As I was writing this work, a couple was charged over a shoving incident at Toa Payoh hawker centre. Such an ugly spat is rare but it reminds me of the competitiveness of Singaporeans.

The view of Marina Bay is a popular feature on many Singapore postcards. Against all odds, this young nation rapidly rose from third world to first. I imagine the skyscrapers, which are monuments of success, rising above the waters. The arpeggios at the beginning returns and the Rasa Sayang theme appears prominently. Finally, I included a short coda “Honoring our Forefathers”. The best way to honor them is to appreciate their contributions and strive for greater success.

Postcards from Singapore premiered by Soh Wei Qi

Garritan Personal Orchestra 4: Arthur-Kieran - Ottarine

Trois histoires

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)

Talented trombonist Wes Lebo sits in to discuss his unique path to become a professional musician as well as his experiences on and off the stage in Columbia during the 2018 season of Hot Summer Nights. (Selections from Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders and I Have a Dream from Kangyi Zhang’s “Let Freedom Ring” Concerto in Singapore).

102 - Hot Summer Nights with Trombonist Web Lebo

Unknown album (9/17/2018 8:23:10 AM)

Incantation

Da Chara

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. 

For full list of performances and compositions, please visit www.kangyizhang.com .

Songs of Separation - 2. Chasm

Kangyi Zhang

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