Reading Session at 2023 Brevard Summer Festival by Brevard Sinfonia on July 31st, 2023
Composed by Yeeun Sim

A Song of the Wind for orchestra (2023)

Corridors Of Power

Grand Conspiracy

The fifth and final movement of my classical-contemporary piece, seavoda, dedicated to the five layers of the ocean.

In the deep sea trenches, hadal is the last layer of the ocean, where the Earth’s tectonic plates crush against each other. This is signified by the rumbling tremolo swells from the low strings at the beginning of the movement. It is very hard for any life to survive in this part of the world, yet miraculously, it is not impossible. Solo piano enters and dedicates a solemn yet warm melody to these isolated slivers of existence. However, instead of maintaining a pulse like in abyssal, it is time to take that minuscule light from within and push on. Piano turns into ascending blocks of chords over growing string tremolos. Instead of sitting in darkness and allowing it to take over, the music is determined to hold onto hope and fight through the trenches. Whatever obstacle materializes, we must move ahead.

Darren Creech - piano
Lorenzo Guggenheim - strings conductor
Sam Bisson - music contractor

Recorded at Noble Street Studios (strings) and The Orange Lounge (piano) in Toronto. Engineered by Spencer Sunshine. Mixed and mastered by Gabriel Gutiérrez Arellano at Grayson Music Group. Album cover artwork by Jack Stewart.

This project was made possible by funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

seavoda - v. hadal

The fourth movement from my classical contemporary piece, seavoda, dedicated to the four layers of the ocean.

Very few forms of life survive in this level of the ocean due to the freezing temperatures, extreme pressure, and absolute darkness. The ending of “midnight”’s sinister and desolate tone carries into the beginning of this movement. Daunting sounds and static fill the space. However, instead of continuing this descent into madness and isolation, the piano returns in a steady minimal pace (acting almost like a heartbeat) along with cautiously growing muted strings. This movement is meant to channel calm and light from within the darkness. The expanding swells of trilled strings against the steady piano pulse signify warmth and calm taking control in fear and chaos. This is what abyssal strives to give the listener before the final movement.

Darren Creech - piano
Lorenzo Guggenheim - strings conductor
Sam Bisson - music contractor

Recorded at Noble Street Studios (strings) and The Orange Lounge (piano) in Toronto. Engineered by Spencer Sunshine. Mixed and mastered by Gabriel Gutiérrez Arellano at Grayson Music Group. Album cover artwork by Jack Stewart.

This project was made possible by funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

seavoda - iv. abyssal

The second movement of my classical contemporary piece, seavoda, dedicated to the five layers of the ocean.

Between light and darkness, there is twilight. While significantly more absent of sunlight as we move deeper in the ocean, the twilight zone contains a treasure of activity due to the extra depth of protection from exploitative fishing practices and other man-made damage. This is reflected in the music by the piano’s briskly minimalist motif that propels the movement forward. As the strings and synths enter, the piano continues as a rhythmic engine while the cellos carry a soaring melody.

Out of all the movements, twilight is the most inspired by melodically-driven film scores, particularly those of composer James Horner. It represents beauty, vibrancy, and imagination… all the wonder we absorb when we see clusters of colourful ocean life. After one last emotional push near the end, violins play overlapping descending glisses that get lower and lower as we sink into darkness and uncertainty.

Darren Creech - piano
Lorenzo Guggenheim - strings conductor
Sam Bisson - music contractor

Recorded at Noble Street Studios (strings) and The Orange Lounge (piano) in Toronto. Engineered by Spencer Sunshine. Mixed and mastered by Gabriel Gutiérrez Arellano at Grayson Music Group. Album cover artwork by Jack Stewart.

This project was made possible by funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

seavoda - ii. twilight

This morning, 4 minutes 49 seconds, raw, unmastered Piano Meditation.

Image: Still from my film and sound work "Koiman II (Years Without Summers) - 24 Nocturnes", 2017-2022. In this image we see a close up of my late mother, pianist Gabriela Weiss' Seiler grand piano in Warsaw.

July 8 2025 Piano Meditation

Mirtohid Radfar- Tanboor
Helia Sobhanian-Voice
Marc Lujan Ballester- Composer
Eduard Reitman-Sound
Marek Vilba- Live stream
Premiered 06/06/2025 at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre

Saeta errante (live excerpt) - مرده بدم -

MI NASCO. PER ELETTRONICA. Nº 1 (2024) [short version]
Stereo audio fixed media

ATTENTION: The composition is based on sub-bass frequencies (10-50 Hz). It is necessary to listen with high quality headphones or loudspeakers, ideally with a subwoofer.
________________________
[EGM 1 + FTI 20]

Mi nasco. Per elettronica. Nº 1 (2024) [short version] | Electronics

ATTENTION: The composition is based on sub-bass frequencies. It is necessary to listen with headphones or good external loudspeakers.

MI NASCO nº 11
For electric guitar
(2025)

Nate Chivers, electric guitar

Mi nasco nº 11 (2025) | Electric guitar

August 9 2025 Piano Occurrence 

14 minutes 47 seconds

This mediation, or, occurrence, is part of the cycle of piano improvisations occurring in response to the world, as it is now, or as it disappears.

The more I think about my large-scale drawings as musical scores, the more I hope they can be read, not only by musicians, compatriots of music, but also, all who assume they can’t read music. The ultimate goal being to hear attentively, to “deeply listen” – to quote my hero, Pauline Oliveros. 

Illustration:
Monika Weiss
Metamorphosis-Przemiana
2024
74 x 76 inches
Resin, water, graphite powder, dry pigment and pencil on rice paper

Documented (beautifully) by Jean Vong

August 9 2025 Piano Occurance

Monika Weiss is a New York based contemporary sound and intermedia artist, originally from Warsaw

Composer, performer, teacher and designer of musical instruments.

His training includes composition studies at the Milan Conservatory, musical analysis and electronic music at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan, advanced courses in Europe, studies in the field of theatre and performing arts.

His works combine music composition, performance art, sound sculpture, and have been presented in Europe, the United States, China.

In the early 1990s he created the HN System® for the composition of physical, mental, emotional performative processes.

In 1994 he was a lecturer at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, where he presented the HN System, defined by Heinz-Klaus Metzger as «the most surprising artistic invention of the last 15 years».

He designed the HN Percussion®, musical instruments that involve the performer’s entire body.

He conducts workshops at conservatories and universities.

His music is the subject of academic papers, theses, documentary films.

i'm a composer for film, tv and the concert hall.

you will find selected tracks from scores, concert works, and some delectable leftovers here 🍰🎵

📸 by www.blapp.space

New tracks tagged #Classical Contemporary