phool (फूल, ਫੁੱਲ, پھول‎): flower
the fool (tarot): naive, freedom of thot, the world is a cherry waiting to be popped
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phool.rip@gmail.com

Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Bruce Dupre started producing electronic music at the ripe young age of 13 as Venice Electric. 4 years later the Seestrings project was born out of a fusion of jazz, IDM, and trip-hop. The first release was a limited print homemade CD called Snowdays which will soon be available for free download. In 2003 The Strawberry Jam EP was released on the now defunct Laidback Electronica net label followed by the full length Oh My God Am I Here All Alone LP in early 2005. Late 2005 also saw the release of the concept EP In My Dream I Lost You available via Sun Sea Sky. 

The following years found him pursuing live music with the bands Applebutter and Big Sky while working on production, singing, and songwriting under the moniker Sleepy Bear. After a lengthy hiatus from the electronic scene and relocating to Austin, TX, work has begun again on new Seestrings projects. Stay tuned

seestrings.bandcamp.com

With a deep enthusiasm for new music, an intense curiosity about the world of sound, and a rich multicultural background, Geli Li (b. 1992) is a Chinese-born American composer whose music bridges Eastern and Western musical traditions through a personal idiom and a contemporary musical vocabulary. Over the past two decades, her musical journey has taken her across Asia, Europe, and North America. Born into a musical family in Guangzhou, China, she began professional and systematic training in music composition at the age of twelve, studying in conservatory settings in China, Germany, and the United States.

Li holds a doctoral degree in Music Composition with a concentration in Electronic Music from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with Januibe Tejera and Yevgeniy Sharlat. She also studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg under Elmar Lampson and at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with Wenchen Qin. Her artistic development has been further shaped by mentorship from numerous influential figures, including Augusta Read Thomas and others.

Since 2020, Li has increasingly gravitated toward sound exploration and timbre-driven approaches to music creation. Her Breath series—comprising seven works for various instrumentations—embraces both acoustic and electronic media. Highlights include Breath VI (2024) for amplified accordion, composed for Anthony Millet and premiered at the ManiFeste Academy Festival at IRCAM; and Breath II (2021) for string trio, premiered by Hanatsu Miroir and recorded by the Talea Ensemble in 2024. Additional recent works include Sleeping Light for chamber orchestra, commissioned by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and conducted by Brad Lubman; The Smell of Sunshine, commissioned by the Mizzou International Composers Festival and premiered by Alarm Will Sound under Alan Pierson in July 2025; Vertical Scaling, commissioned by Copland House’s CULTIVATE Institute and premiered in New York City in June 2025; and The Embrace of Wind and the Memories (2022) for cello and electronics, premiered and recorded by Jay Campbell.

In recent years, her compositional interests have turned toward cultural reflection through music, particularly through reimagining the sonic possibilities of traditional Eastern instruments. She explores a broad spectrum of timbres shaped by the nuanced interplay of pitch, gesture, and noise. This approach is exemplified in her concerto Me and My Shadows, written for Chinese sheng and Western ensemble in a contemporary new music idiom. Continuing this exploration, her upcoming work When My Eyes Closed—for accordion, Japanese shō, and alto saxophone—will premiere in June 2025 at the Valentiny Foundation in Remerschen, Luxembourg, commissioned by Ensemble United Instruments of Lucilin. In parallel, she is collaborating with the AsianArt Ensemble Berlin on a new work that deepens the dialogue between Eastern and Western instrumental voices, set to premiere in Berlin in August 2025.

Li’s music has been performed across three continents by more than 30 ensembles and orchestras, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Talea Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Hanatsu Miroir, Chamber Orchestra Jahrhundert-XX-Österreich, NOMAD Tokyo, Berlin Zafraan Ensemble, 4Sonora String Quartet, Switch~Ensemble, SoundMap Ensemble, Balance Campaign Ensemble, Tace t(i) Ensemble, Chartreuse Trio, Fear No Music Ensemble, Hub New Music, Beijing Modern Ensemble, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, China Broadcast Orchestra, Beijing Chinese Orchestra, and the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, among many others. She has received over 45 international awards and honors, with her work featured at more than 30 major festivals worldwide.

Most recently (2024–2025), Li has received commissions from the Henri Lazarof Living Legacy at Brandeis University, the Museum of Contemporary Art Connecticut and Hub New Music, Ensemble United Instruments of Lucilin, Copland House’s CULTIVATE Institute, the Mizzou International Composers Festival, the DeGaetano Composition Institute, and the Potries Composition Residency.

She currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Macalester College, where she teaches courses in music composition, music theory, and new music.

So reach out to greet me in time and spacelessness. ✨

Kiou is following