In case you don’t read Chinese, I have been awarded a 2011 National 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.