for Saxophone, Piano, and Percussion
Performed by Ensemble Vertixe Sonora

Dead-end (2021)

Performed by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. 
Vln, Vla, Vc, Cl, Ob, Tpt, Perc, Pno

For the piece's background, please watch my talk on the official YouTube channel of Harvard Radcliffe Institute:
https://youtu.be/t0pg0SCvf88?si=yndjekcT6Ez8Z9Qw

Zooplankton (2023)

Cantonese is one of the hardest-to-learn languages in the world. It is a tonal language that has nine tones, which sounds similar to a western music scale. This makes Cantonese hard to master, as the meaning of words will be totally different as the tones slightly vary. This piece aim to experiment about the musicality of Cantonese. The choir is divided to 4 sound blocks, mixing male and female voices, so that one can listen to the actual tones of the lyrics rather than the register of voice parts.

The theme of this piece explores the dilemma in our lives that choosing between money and dream. In Cantonese, the title has two meaning: An ideal situation, or an Actuality of the reality. This piece illustrates a psychological state of a human struggling between these to situations. 


Ideal Reality, for Cantonese Choir in 4 voice blocks (2012)

A contemporary choir song for SSAA. The text illustrates the life from the Fall to the Winter of a typical Hong Kong-er in the early decades of the colonial period. This is a live recording. Might have to crank up the volume a bit.

Night Song - for SSAA children's choir (2015)

The piece is dedicated to the children of Seria. Text by Hong Kong poet Yiuho Hsieh. The song illustrates the bitterness the children faced in the Seria war in the view of a Teddy. Though a typical SSAA women can also execute this piece as well, the piece is primarily written for children's choir. The melodic and harmonic elements of this song is particularly hard for a children's choir. It is like a cadenza for Children's Choir.

The Story begins from a Teddy, for SSAA children's choir (2016)

The piece basically illustrates the complexity of a modern world. People is more likely to say mockery words than to express their opinion straightforward.  (Might have to crank up the volume a bit due to the extreme dynamics contrast.)

171208-Composition Recital

Behind Those Words - for Clarinet, Cello and Percussion (2017)

"City Story - Flying Sword" is composed for the 5.1 channel. This recording has been mixed down to stereo. The piece is one of my most successful pieces. It has been selected to be performed in three prestigious international conferences, including the international computer music conference (ICMC), and other smaller international festivals.

"Flying sword" has multiple meanings in Hong Kong Cantonese. The term was initially coined to depict the old-school animations in kung-fu films around the 1950s. However, the locals eventually adopted this term into their slang. Until the 90s, the "flying sword" was commonly understood as "spitting," as the spitting phlegm looks like those old animations of the flying sword. The term was also understood as the written Chinese character "Red Centre" (中) in the traditional mah-jong game.

The slang connects to some old Hong Kong living styles: watching movies, playing mah-jong, and spitting everywhere. It is unique in the Hong Kong sub-cultural scene. In this piece, I aim to sculpt the vivid soundscape of old Hong Kong in the 90s from his childhood memory and preserve the history to some degree.

The piece is a pure musique concrète piece. The major music elements were the sounds from old films, spitting, and mah-jong playing. They are organized in specific ways so that the work sounds like a deconstruction of the old Hong Kong street soundscape. All elements can be clearly heard and yet are closely linked together. A field recording of a Hong Kong wet market scene is added as a background to establish a local taste.

City Story - Flying Sword (mixed down to stereo) (2017)

Reaction I - for solo viola (2018)

...Into Dirt... - for string quartet (2019)

Reaction II, the second piece in the "Reaction" series. Specifically written for Irvine Arditti.

Composer: Ka Shu (Kenneth) Tam
Performer: Irvine Arditti

Reaction II - for solo violin (2019)

Beyond the Frontier of the Great Wall for SATB Youth Choir
2018
Performed by the Greeners' Sound

Beyond the Frontier of the Great Wall - for SATB Youth Choir (2018)

Dedicated to Ensemble Mise-En
For Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello

Path of Earth, for chamber ensemble (2019)

Guitar: Thomas Torrisi
Bassoon: Blaire Koehner
Cello: TJ Borden

www.tamkashu.com

The title is a condensation of a Buddhism philosophical concept that illustrates the relationship between an individual and the universe. Once an individual is born into this world, he will inevitably be bounded in pain. One’s desire to achieve goals causes the pain to sprawl throughout his life. And yet, these goals are meaningless to the universe. Humans fight to fulfill their dreams. However, it can only temporarily satisfy one’s desire to relieve oneself from the universal pain. After all, when one passes away, nothing is left behind. According to the philosophy, we are all pitiful beings. The only way to elevate ourselves is to get away from desire. 

The piece primarily focuses on the horizontal movements of individual lines. There is no vertical relationship between the lines. These lines only come together at specific nodal points, giving the piece a loose sense of coherence. They fluctuate and flow according to the natural energy flow.

Sprawl - for guitar, bassoon and cello (2020)

Tam Ka-Shu (Kenneth), based in Hong Kong, draws most of his musical inspiration from the daily auditory experience in his home city. His music is characterized by its complex timbre and its peculiar linearity.

Tam’s works have been performed and have received radio broadcast all over the world. They have also been featured in various international events. His works cover a wide range of genres, ranging from music for traditional forces to multimedia creations. Tam has worked with artists and ensembles such as the Arditti Quartet (UK), Ensemble Mise-En (US), the Hanatsu Miroir (France), the Hayley-Laufer Duo (US/Canada), the dissonArt Ensemble (Greece), the RTHK quartet (Hong Kong), the choreographer/dancer Mary Schnepf (USA), and more.

Tam earned his PhD in Music Composition in the University at Buffalo. He completed his Bachelor in Hong Kong Baptist University and his Master in the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His major composition teachers include David Felder, Cort Lippe, James Mobberley, Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Christopher Keyes and Christopher Coleman.
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Tam Ka Shu

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