bass flute, bass clarinet, viola and violoncello
composition year: 2013
total time: 9:56 (excerpt)
Phace ensemble
produced by NEOS and ZKM

Dunkelkammermusik (CD NEOS 2014) Phace Ensemble

August 17, 2023: The Rhythm Method Ensemble Group (Leah Asher, Violin. Marina Kifferstein, Violin. Carrie Frey, Viola. Helen Newby, Cello). World premiere on Lake George Music Festival (Lake George, NY- USA)


In “Notturno”, I want to take listeners on a journey through the enchanting realm of night.The piece is divided into four distinct sections, each portraying a different facet of the nocturnal experience.The first section, "Twilight Reverie," sets the tone for the piece, drawing listeners into the mystical transition between day and night. Following the serenity of twilight, "Sparkling Flight" takes flight with lively and energetic passages.The strings engage in a dance of agility, portraying the enchantment and exuberance of creatures taking flight under the moonlit sky. The third section, "Midnight Musings," delves into the introspective nature of the night. Through introspective melodies and contemplative harmonies, the music reflects the quietude of the late hours, when thoughts wander and emotions deepen. As dawn approaches, "Vibrant Daybreak" heralds the arrival of a new day with renewed energy and vigor.The quartet's interplay intensifies, building to a triumphant climax, symbolizing the emergence from the darkness of night into the radiant light of day.

Notturno, for string quartet

"Dreamland" is a deeply personal journey, an exploration of my own perceptions and emotions that emerged from a recent dream and an intense introspection of my inner world. This piece represents my attempt to push the boundaries of time and space, creating a sonic tapestry where dreams seamlessly intermingle with the stark, unyielding reality we face daily.

In "Dreamland," I endeavor to transport the audience into a world where the ethereal and the tangible coalesce, forging a unique, meditative sonic environment. My aim is to invite listeners to not only hear but to also experience their own breath, to feel the pulsating rhythm of life, and to trace the intricate tracks that traverse our existence.

To craft this composition, I recorded sounds from my everyday life—a symphony of my breath, my humming, the gentle movements of doors, and the cacophony of the city streets. These raw materials were then intricately juxtaposed and harmonized with synthesized sounds, creating an immersive interplay between what we perceive as "real" and the surreal, shaping the very essence of the music itself.
"Dreamland" beckons the audience to explore its multi-dimensional soundscape, with acoustic electronic sound projected through multiple channels. Within this spatial narrative, layers unfold, dialectically and organically, like chapters in a "dream within a dream." It is a testament to the profound interconnectedness of our experiences and the fluidity of our perceptions.

As you delve into the enchanting world of "Dreamland," you embark on a journey where the lines between reality and dreams blur, where time and space dance together, and where the heartbeat of life reverberates in every sonic contour. I invite you to join me in this introspective voyage, to find your own stories within the "dream in a dream."

Dreamland, for electronic music (fixed media)

Kairos, composed by Keith Kramer, is an electronic composition inspired by the Bob Crewe artwork of the same name. The piece features recordings of songs composed by Bob Crewe as source material as well as temporal expansion techniques (temporal dilation) that aid in timbre creation.

Kairos

The graphic above is a visualization of global wind patterns; massive amounts of weather data are fed into a supercomputer that then produces a live (or pseudo-live) “wind map.” The swirls and swoops are color-coded: areas of blue and green are relatively calm, while red and purple usually imply devastating conditions in a tropical system. There is something particularly poetic about seeing our atmosphere on such a macro scale; the same colors converted from numerical data also suggest Van Gogh-esque brushstrokes. The confluence of the empirical and the aesthetic in the “wind map” has proved wildly inspiring for the composition of this piece.

The Juilliard Orchestra (reading)
Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor

Wind Map (2018): for orchestra

Depending on the spectra of their local stars, exoplanets’ flora may come in wildly different colors than our own: red, purple, blue, or even black.

Sophia Steger, Isabella Gies, violins
Frida Siegfrist Oliver, viola
Sanae Kodaira, cello

[alien forests] (2019): for string quartet

Lei Liang - Lake, version for two flutes (excerpt)

Tianyu Liu, Russell Iceberg, violins
Aditi Prakash, viola
Claire Kim, cello
Stephen Joven-Lee, piano

i. network architecture [0:00]
ii. garden city [2:26]
iii. airport express [4:56]
iv. night skyline [7:11]
v. interchange station [10:30]

"Mass Transit" is inspired by Shanghai’s metro system— an elaborate network of lines, trains, tunnels / overpasses, and interchange stations. Each movement explores a facet of the subway network: the elegance of optimizing a system map, the variety of connections available in the city (gardens, airports, skyscrapers), and the complexities of multi-layered interchanges, where up to four lines converge. The piece as a whole is also envisioned as a musical “voyage;” the train stops briefly to take in the sights, before resuming its journey onward.

Mass Transit (2021): for piano quintet

Xinyuan Deng, hailing from Henan, China, is a versatile artist excelling as a composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Her music seamlessly blends Eastern and Western influences, creating intricate sonic landscapes that have graced prestigious stages, including the PHACE Contemporary Ensemble, Zhejiang Symphonic Orchestra, and Harbin Symphonic Orchestra. Notably, her composition "Huai Xu for Chinese and Western Chamber Music" was lauded and performed by Austria's esteemed PHACE ensemble.

Xinyuan clinched third place at the 12th Yanhuang Cup Chinese Style Piano Work Competition with her piece "The Rhyme of Yu Opera." She achieved a world premiere with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra for "Magic of Snow" at The Second International Music Competition Harbin. Her orchestral creation, "Time Meditation," received acclaim at the 1st Hangzhou Contemporary Music Festival.

With a Bachelor of Art from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and a Master of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree at Indiana University.

Dreamland, for electronic music (fixed media)

Xinyuan Deng

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