Kodo 古道 (2018)
Recorded on 21 May 2018 Hong Kong Baptist University Academic Hall

Program Note:
Kodo was inspired by the pilgrimage routes, Kumano Kodo in Wakayama, Japan. The mountainous region of Kumano has been thought to as the mythical “holy ground where gods dwell”. Xiao leads other instruments to depict the serenity and mystery of Kumano. Another Erhu comes in later and develops a dialogue with Xiao, which symbolize the communication between worshippers and gods.

去年の9月に和歌山の熊野古道に行きました。そこの景色と歴史にインスピレーションを得て作曲したものです。

Xiao: Poon Ka Hei Joshua
Erhu I: Tung Tsz Ching
Erhu II: Janey Lee
Pipa: Bertha Kum
Yangqin: Ashley Chung
Zheng: Rita Yung

Kodo 古道 (2018) for Chinese Chamber Ensemble

Polaris - excerpts

Life Is But A Dream (2016)for Zheng and fixed media
Performer: Bou Kwan Ying, Recorded in 2016 Dec Hong Kong

Life Is But A Dream is inspired by the story of Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly. Is my life is a life or a dream? 
In this piece, the electronics sounds represent the dreamlike surrounding, and the Zheng is passing through and searching between the reality and the dream.

Life Is But A Dream

Life Is But A Dream (2016) for Zheng and fixed media

3 Poems of Emily Dickinson for soprano, flute, clarinet, percussion and piano
Recorded on 2 April 2019 in Recito Studio @ UT

1. I’ve Seen a Dying Eye 
2. I heard a Fly buzz 
3. Because I could not stop for Death 

Soprano: Rachel Davis
Flute: Zach S. Warren
Clarinet: Alan Bowden
Percussion: Ryan Patterson
Piano: Betty Lin

2. I heard a Fly buzz

1. I’ve Seen a Dying Eye

Jau4 for Sheng and live electronics (2019)
Recorded on 14 Dec 2019 in Hong Kong Museum of Art
Sheng: So To

*Jau(4) is commissioned by the Hong Kong Museum of Art to collaborate with a collection, Santa Claus Visiting My Studio (1981) by Fushan Chan.

Jau (4), the title of this work, is a phonetic alphabet of two words that have the same pronunciation in Cantonese. (They mean swim and travel. ) The performer is acting as a fish swimming from a fish tank and traveling around from the old days to nowadays Hong Kong. I collected some unique, important, and treasure sounds in Hong Kong. The role of sheng is to respond to those sounds. It involved some of my emotional reactions to the sounds in Hong Kong. I tried to follow Fushan Chan's innovative ideas of combining different painting techniques in his work, and mix the live instrumental sound, electronics, and pre-recorded environmental sounds together. This piece is using sounds to recreate the paint of the soundscape in Hong Kong.

Jau4 (2019) for Sheng and live electronics

Innerlogue for bassoon and live electronics (2019)
Bassoon: Caroline Miller

Innerlogue is a dialogue inside a person's mind. Everyone has more than one personality, and these personalities appear in different places, time, and situations. Innerlogue is trying to use different timbres, sounds, and articulation of the bassoon to represent multi-personalities and the conversations between these characters and use the live electronics to expand each characteristic.

Rita Yung

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