Women & Girls Lead Documentaries
I have recently become involved as the composer in this wonderful team of documentary filmmakers. These episodes show empowering and empowered women on PBS.org. How cool is that!
To see the documentaries my team has made, called Women & Girls Lead, go to http://www.onesquaremile.tv/1sqMile/WGL.html.
New CD Release
The 2-CD set “Listening to the Sound of Taiwan–New Music by Emerging Composers 2011 聽見臺灣的聲音–新樂 星躍 2011鼓勵創作獲選作品集” has been released.
My piano trio Blue Mirror, Green Mirror, Red Mirror 三思 is the first piece in the collection. Also featured on the discs are composers Wei-Chieh Lin 林煒傑, Fang-Wei Luo 羅芳偉, Chihchun Chi-sun Lee 李志純, Tsung-jen Hsieh 謝宗仁, Yi-De Chen 陳以德, Ling-Huei Tsai 蔡淩蕙, and Yu-Chun Chien 簡宇君. Thanks to the Council for Cultural Affairs of Taiwan and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra for making this release possible.
Premiere of New Video Work “Houston Duet”
Daniel and I have been working on a new video work titled “Houston Duet”. This will officially be our fourth collaboration together. We are branching out to include actors in our videos. The occasion for the premiere is on the Centerpieces concert series for our former professor Phil Winsor’s retirement celebration.
11/28/2011, Monday
8:00 PM
Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater
University of North Texas
Directions
Free admission
Upcoming Premiere at Rice University
Electroacoustic composition Spacious Void will be premiered as part of the Jean Gebser Society Conference at Rice University. Also on the program are interactive computer music works by Dave Gedosh, Chapman Welch, and Daniel Zajicek.
10/13/2011, Thursday
5:00 PM
Miner Lounge, RMC, Rice University
Houston, Texas
Free Admission
Spacious Void
New electroacoustic composition Spacious Void (2011) is out. I have not done purely acousmatic pieces since the early 2000′s. This work marks the end of my time in Montana, and signifies a new beginning for the journey ahead.
7’40″
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Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra Performance in July
Posted by hlwang in conducting, events, works on 05/18/2011
The Asian Music Festival 2011 has invited me to conduct the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of my own composition Etude for Orchestra in July. This engagement will add another destination before I arrive in Taiwan for the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra’s performance in August. Great timing! I am grateful for the recognition they have given me, and look forward to meeting composers from The Japan Federation of Composers and beyond.
Asian Music Festival 2011, Orchestral Concert
Etude for Orchestra by Hsiao-Lan Wang
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Hsiao-Lan Wang
Date: 7/31/2011
Time: 14:00
Location: Bunkyo Civic Main Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Commission from the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra
In case you don’t read Chinese, I have been awarded a 2011 Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Commission. Thank you, Taiwan!
The commissioned work Blue Mirror, Green Mirror, Red Mirror 三思 is for piano trio (violin, cello, and piano). In 2003, I wrote Trio for viola, vibraphone, and piano. It explored the idea of relationship among the three instruments. The new trio Blue Mirror, Green Mirror, Red Mirror will follow a similar approach to examine the perspective from each instrumental part. It is like telling the same story from three different angles. In many ways, the two trios will be sister works. My personal fascination with the number “3″ translates directly into the word “relationship”. I guess you may say when you have three people involved in anything, you have a social issue. Read the ancient Chinese story about three monks fetching water here.
Some important influences and inspirations for this new composition come from the Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red, German director Tom Tykwer’s film Run Lola Run, and Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s novel Hard-Boilded Wonderland and the End of the World. All of these works deal with chance, incidental convergence, and re-shaping your perception of the world through different lenses. I admire these works, and they have taught me a lot in my own creative projects.
New Film Score “Who Is a Scientist?”
I just completed the score for Who Is a Scientist? (2011), a short film by Quinn Spadola. This film explores topics of feminism, culture in scientific studies, science education, etc. I am not going to write too much about it here since the filmmaker will want to make her own statement and presentation of the film.
The collaboration with Quinn was an enjoyable one. We were glad to have connected, especially based on our common interest in feminist topics. During the process, we met quite a few times to discuss and work on the music, within a tight schedule. Isn’t it funny that I can always carve out time to work on composition even when seemingly my schedule was already full? The music turned out well. But I am not going to lie: often when I am just working out things in my composition, I feel like I am the biggest phony in the world! With MUCH perseverance, the materials started taking shape, and the overall scheme started making sense. Woohoo! It’s always comforting to learn that I am not an idiot (a direct quote by my filmmaker friend Theo Lipfert.)
How to Please a Composer
How can a composer be pleased? It’s as easy as showing her some positive comments from complete strangers about her work.
Here are a couple examples that Daniel showed me:
http://eanms.blogspot.com/2011/02/tango-mechanique.html
Thanks to all of you out there listening to my music. Oftentimes I tend to discount praises from people around me, since I assume they want to make me feel good or want my attention, etc. Hearing how listeners (who I am not friends with yet) like my music makes my day!
SoundCloud at the UCM New Music Festival
University of Central Missouri Laptop Ensemble is scheduled to perform my laptop ensemble piece SoundCloud on the UCM New Music Festival. The work uses 4 different Max patches as independent parts, but each part can have multiple players. Hsiao-Lan is rounding up participants to join the laptop ensemble for a massive performance. If you are interested in joining the event, and are able to be present, please email Hsiao-Lan for more details.
Daniel’s Punk • Truck • Love for bass clarinet and electronics will also be performed on the festival by the clarinet faculty at UCM.
The Department of Music at the University of Central Missouri is hosting the third annual UCM New Music Festival April 8-10, 2011. This year’s festival will be held in conjunction with the 2011 Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference. Featuring music by composers and presentations by scholars from across North America and beyond, the festival showcases faculty, student, and guest performers. University of Central Missouri is located in Warrensburg, Missouri. It is about 90 miles from the Kansas City International Airport.
Festival website.
