This recording was created as part of the 2021 June in Buffalo Festival, with each performer recording individually and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ensemble Signal, Brad Lubman, conductor; Kelli Kathman, flutes; Lisa Moore, piano; Courtney Orlando, violin; Isabel Hagen, viola; Lauren Radnofsky, cello. Sound Engineering, editing, mixing and mastering by Paul Coleman.
[June 2021]

orbit (n.):
The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft round a star, planet, or moon, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
(Oxford Dictionary)

orbit explores the gesture of circular motion in music and the juxtaposition of quick, cyclical motifs with slow, oscillating textures. Along with this idea of circular motion is the constant shift in timbre and colour, resulting in a sense of movement and energy in the music.

orbit (for mixed quintet) - Ensemble Signal / June in Buffalo

18 我的神我的父

19 新耶路撒冷——湧流之三一神的目的地

Commissioned as the winner of the 2022 Barlow Prize, for the youth symphonies of Atlanta, New York, Seattle, and Guangzhou

Completed December 21, 2023

Premiered March 17, 2024 at Benaroya Hall by Juan Felipe Molano (cond.) and the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra

Humans have a fascinating tendency to search for meaning or patterns in places where there might not be any. Be them faces in the clouds (pareidolia), coincidental events aligning with birthdays (synchronicity), or backward messages hidden in metal albums (patternicity), such moments of projected meaning have entered into the stuff of legend. This kind of magical thinking is well studied in psychology, anthropology, and beyond, perhaps because of the myriad truths it reveals about us as a species.

To me, pareidolia - finding meaning in nebulous stimuli - speaks to a natural desire for communication. There is a genuine thrill in believing one has deciphered an encoded message, especially when the implied author seems to have coyly concealed their words. From the quotidian (the chocolate chips in my muffin look like my cat, Whiskers) to the silly (someone embedded Donkey Kong in this AI-generated landscape) to the grandiose (the stars have arranged themselves into the face of God), receiving these supposed messages can make one feel special - like they’ve discovered a secret language. 

Pareidolia and Other Habits is a piece about finding meaning in the smallest of gestures. The work is built out of small, simple ideas that ripple and reverberate across the orchestra, echoing to and fro between instrumental sections. Individual string harmonics prefigure a vibraphone tune; dust-like, particulate sounds gather into ferocious tuttis; melodic motifs stretch and compress capriciously, notes dropping in and out at will. As vivid and dramatic as the music is, though, the piece was written without any program or image in mind. Just as we might see faces in rock formations, we try (and often are able) to derive story, emotion, and meaning from purely instrumental, abstract music. This piece, ultimately, is a celebration of that.

Pareidolia and Other Habits, for symphony orchestra

Commissioned by Dr. Henry Dorn and the St. Olaf Band

Completed 1/31/2024
Premiered 4/21/2024 by the commissioning ensemble

Music has an uncanny ability to suggest motion, be it through rhythmic motives, melodic contour, harmonic shifts, timbral affects, or any combination thereof and beyond. Nonetheless, helicopter string quartets notwithstanding, much instrumental music tends to be created while (mostly) stationary. The idea of ‘dance music’ - that is, music that so strongly suggests movement through its sound alone that it actually inspires people to move - is a remarkable illusion, yet one that seems strikingly ubiquitous.

As its title would suggest, Dancing On Air is a piece about motion, and as many different kinds as possible. The music flits from key area to key area in its bouncy triple time, scattering its themes and motifs deftly across sections and back. As I began writing it, I knew I wanted to return to a simpler kind of music than my recent output, and the piece's soaring melodies, repetitious figures, and exuberant orchestration seek to explore a world colored by innocence, youth, and good humor. 

Many thanks to my friend, Henry, and to his incredible band. It was a true honor to get to write this piece for them.

Dancing on Air, for wind band

Yan Ee Toh: cloudburst
for Soprano and Organ

Premiered 16 Jan 2024
Duke's Hall, Royal Academy of Music (London)

Performed by:
Natasha Da Costa, soprano
Zosia Herlihy-O'Brien, organ

cloudburst (2023)

Sinfonie Nr. 2 "the immaculate sands" (2004)
iv. lucifer
hamburger sinfoniker
christoph eggen, dirigent

Sinfonie Nr. 2 "the immacuate sands" iv. lucifer

Negotiation for two pianos (2024)

⼀
主阿，我來就你， 我⼼飢渴要你！
深願在此喫你喝你，享受你的⾃ ⼰。
⼆
得⾒你的⾯⽬ ，乃是我⼼所慕！
甚願在此與你接觸， 靈裡得著飽⾜。
三
你的榮耀⾯光，我⼼何等欣賞！
真願留此不再他往，⼀直向你瞻仰。
四
在這交通裡⾯，你是我的恩典！
使我⼼歡，使我靈滿，全⼈進⼊平安。
五
還要在此等候，還要向你尋求！
讀經、禱告交替不休，直到被你浸透！

備註
本⾸詩歌由 四句所組成，每句三⼩節，惟第三句多了⼀⼩節。本編曲藉由發展第三句的拱形動機 A-Bb-D-C（歌詞：深願在此），來加強原本即存在於旋律結構內的「延伸」現象，呼應歌詞中的『在此』、『留此』、『直到』，隱喻詩⼈渴慕在神的⾯光中逗留的情景。

主阿我來就你 I Come to Thee Dear Lord

a soundscape composition

Sound files used:
megapenguin13. 2011. Bottles Clinking.aif. https://freesound.org/people/MegaPenguin13/sounds/118199/ Accessed 14 April 2024
xenognosis. 2011. Two plastic bags.wav. https://freesound.org/people/xenognosis/sounds/137247/ Accessed 14 April 2024
splicesound. 2014. Shopping cart - carriage, slow speed.wav. https://freesound.org/people/SpliceSound/sounds/218327/ Accessed 14 April 2024
grupo3sonidodiegetico. 2014. supermarket_inside.aif. https://freesound.org/people/grupo3sonidodiegetico/sounds/255709/ Accessed 14 April 2024
775noise. 2019. Shop door bell.wav. https://freesound.org/people/775noise/sounds/494565/ Accessed 14 April 2024
garuda1982. 2021. Cash register beeping sound effect.wav. https://freesound.org/people/Garuda1982/sounds/555122/ Accessed 14 April 2024

Grocery Store Etude (2024)

Jia Yi Lee (b. 1996) is a Singaporean composer who writes music that explores the colors and textures of sound through movement and gesture. She creates imaginative sound worlds inspired by natural phenomena and processes, and is interested in the perception of temporality and timbre in music. 

Jia Yi’s music has been performed by the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, KOU Musik (SG), Duo Tarenna (SG), Ensemble Multilatérale (FR), Trio SurPlus (DE), Ensemble Phoenix Basel (CH), Ensemble Linea (FR), Ensemble Signal (US), Talea Ensemble (US), Alarm Will Sound (US), Ensemble Ictus (BE), Tacet(i) Ensemble (TH), soloists from Ensemble Musikfabrik (DE), Toolbox Percussion (HK) and heard in festivals such as Toolbox International Creative Academy (HK), Académie Voix Nouvelles at Royaumont (FR), Mizzou International Composers Festival (US), June in Buffalo (US), Etchings Festival (FR), soundSCAPE Festival (IT) and Asian Composers League Festival (NZ & VN). She has been awarded the Otto Ortmann Prize in Composition (2021), and 2nd and 3rd Prizes in the Prix D'Été Competition (2022, 2020).
 
Apart from composing, Jia Yi plays the trumpet and is also passionate about music education. She is currently a Graduate Assistant in Music Theory at the Peabody Institute and also teaches composition as part of the school's Junior Bach Program. In addition, she is part of the organizing team for Music for All, Music with All, a Singapore-based initiative that promotes inclusivity through music education. 
 
Jia Yi is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at Peabody Institute, studying with Felipe Lara. She recently completed her Master of Music at Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and Bachelor of Music with Honors (Highest Distinction) at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. Her past teachers include Du Yun, Oscar Bettison, Ho Chee Kong, Peter Edwards and Adeline Wong.

orbit (for mixed quintet) - Ensemble Signal / June in Buffalo

Jia Yi Lee

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