XING YU - "The Painted Skin No. 2 (2021)" for soprano, baritone and large chamber ensemble
Kraków Philharmonic

-Conductor: Nadim Husni
-Flute: Deák Juli
-Clarinet: Kinga Patyk
-Bass Clarinet: Dawid Sula
-Trumpet: Nazar Mykytiuk
-Bass Trombone: Michał Sinkowski
-Soprano: Julia Anna Malik
-Bass: Stanisław Duda
-Percussion:
1. Maciej Hałoń
2. Igor Sikorski
3. Cezary Łagan
-Guzheng: Wenyao Lin
-Violin I: Natalia Orszak
-Violin II: Anna Śliwczyńska
-Viola: Barbara Papierz
-Cello: Andrii Vorontsov

“The Painted Skin” is a short story by the Chinese writer Pu Songling collected in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio in 1740. The story revolves around a Chinese scholar, Wang, who becomes infatuated with a demon disguised as a beautiful young maiden. They develop a romantic relationship which goes awry after Wang discovers her true identity. Thereafter, a Taoist priest's skills are put to the task of exorcising the demon; a fight between good and evil ensues.
The inspiration of this composition comes from the main theme of this tale:
How foolish men are, to see nothing but beauty in what is clearly evil! And how benighted to dismiss as absurd what is clearly well-intended! It is folly such as this that obliges the lady Chen to steel herself to eat another man's phlegm, when her husband has fallen prey to lust. Heaven's Way has its inexorable justice, but some mortals remain foolish and never see the light!
— Pu's postscript

XING YU - The Painted Skin No. 2, for soprano, baritone and large chamber ensemble(2021)

Xing Yu (*1997)
Composer | Conductor,
-Publisher: Donemus Publishing.
-Composer in Residence in Hera Trio and Crown Mountain Trio based in Atlanta, USA.
-Master Composition: HfMT Hamburg, Germany. 
-Bachelor Composition: AMKP Kraków, Poland. 

“Sein Sinn für Farben und Effekte ist fantastisch” / “His sense of colors and effects is fantastic”
— — Justus Frantz

“The works of Xing Yu, despite his young age, are very original, interesting and mature. Each performance of his compositions is met with great enthusiasm by the audience. The composer is an extremely hardworking and reliable person, and his scores are refined down to the last detail. They are prepared very carefully and aesthetically, with attention to the smallest editorial details.”
— — Prof. Dr. Marcel Chyrzyński

    The compositions of Xing Yu are distinguished by a unique synthesis of Western avant-garde techniques and traditional Chinese aesthetics. His compositions have got premiered and performed in many concerts and festivals in many different countries including Germany, the USA, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Philippines, in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Kraków Philharmonic etc. 
    Since 2025, most of his compositions have been published by the publisher “Donemus Publishing” located in The Hague, Netherlands.
    Since 2025, he has been selected as a lecturer in music composition in Vienna Premier Music Academy in Vienna, Austria. 
    In 2025, he was a freelance lecturer in music theory for the students in preparatory courses from the “Franz Liszt Academy of Music/ Béla Bártok Conservatory” in Budapest.
    Since 2024, he has been invited to be the “Composer in Residence” in Hera Trio and Crown Mountain Trio based in Atlanta, USA! 
    In October 2024, his commissioned work “Die Kunst des Teufels Nr. 1” for violin, violoncello and piano was premiered in Carnegie Hall in New York City, USA by chamber ensemble Crown Mountain Trio(Trio-CMT). 
    In 2024, he dedicated his solo flute piece “Monologue” to his friend, Polish flutist Krzysztof Kaczka, and he also premiered this piece during his concert in Manila, Philippines in March, 2024, and later in the same year he performed this piece in Kranj, Slovenia. 
    He also joined the concerts during the 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 37th “Kraków international festival of composers” in Kraków, Poland, where his compositions such as “Swordsman”(2021) and “Die Kunst des Teufels Nr. 2”(2025) were premiered. 
    In 2022, he worked with Maestro Justus Frantz, as his concert assistant and conducting trainee in his orchestra “Philharmonie der Nationen” in Germany. 
    In 2018 his composition “Cursive Script No. 1/Grassschrift Nr. 1” was commissioned by concert for Warsztat Kompozytorsko-Wykonawczy in class of Prof. dr. hab. Tomasz Sobaniec in Kraków, Poland. He also performed this piece as a conductor during the world premiere concert. 
    He finished his music composition in Master degree in the University of Music and Drama Hamburg, Germany(HfMT Hamburg) in 2024. Before moving to Germany he finished his music composition in Bachelor degree in Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland(AMKP Kraków) in 2021 in class of Prof. dr. hab. Marcel Chyrzyński, and orchestral conducting with Tomasz Tokarczyk in Kraków opera house(Opera Krakowska) in Poland. He studied electroacoustic and computer music with Prof. dr. hab. Marek Chołoniewski and dr. hab. Mateusz Bień during the years in Poland. 
    His graduation music composition for Bachelor degree in Poland “The Painted Skin No. 2” for soprano, baritone and large chamber ensemble was premiered in May, 2021 in Kraków Philharmonic(Filharmonia Krakowska), and he finished his Master graduation concert in May, 2024 in HfMT Hamburg as both composer and conductor. Maestro Justus Frantz attended his Master graduation concert and commented: “His sense of colors and effects is fantastic”.
    The works of Xing Yu are very original, interesting and mature. Each performance of his compositions is met with great enthusiasm by the audience. In his compositions, he puts the main emphasis on sonority, attention to form, explores extended performance techniques and the perception of time is extremely important to him. He is focused on developing the combination between oriental concepts and European contemporary music. He is also doing his best to make the balance between the timbre and the concept of Asian cultures. However, he did it in his own individual way. 
    His scores are refined down to the last detail. They are prepared very carefully and aesthetically, with attention to the smallest editorial details.

XING YU - The Painted Skin No. 2, for soprano, baritone and large chamber ensemble(2021)

Xing Yu (new)