Premiered by Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, August 19, 2021.
Flute: Christian Paquette
Clarinet: Amer Hasan
Violin: Nathan Lowry
Cello: Otávio Manzano Kavakama
Piano: Derek Wang
Percussion: Colin McCall
Conducted by Tim Weiss

Migration is a concerto for chamber ensemble. It draws excerpts from the “World Map Concerti” series, which is a collection of five mini-concertos for quintet, which takes listeners on a journey around the world, opening their ears to music’s evolution as an international unifier. Song of Matilda brings listeners to Australia with a thematic interpretation of the classic bush ballad, “Waltzing Matilda.” The European leg of the journey is represented by the song of Lindembaum, a nostalgic piece inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, The Dryad. Song of Peace is inspired by Korean culture and traditional music, drawing its name from the inter-Korean Peace House. There is also a touch of surrealism with a pianistic depiction of a wintry weather in subtropical Canton, in the fast passage featuring the piano.

Migration

Praised as “a real talent” (The Seattle Times) with “vivid, dramatic” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “enjoyable” (Gramophone Magazine) scores, and “an incredible span of compositional tool box” (American Record Guide), composer Shuying Li’s music have been performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Ningbo Symphony Orchestra (China), Alarm Will Sound, Orkest de ereprijs (Netherlands), Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (Finland), ICon Arts Ensemble (Romania), Cecilia Quartet (Canada), 15.19. Ensemble (Italy), Ascanio Quartet (Italy), Atlas Ensemble (Netherlands), among others. Shuying holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Hartt School. A passionate educator, Shuying has taught and directed the Composition/Music Theory Program at Gonzaga University. She joined the faculty as the Assistant Professor of Music at California State University, Sacramento, in Fall 2022. For more information, please visit http://www.shuyingli.com.