The first trip I took to Beijing during late April this year was a real eye-opener for me. I have always heard of and read about the development in China, but nothing can describe the atmosphere in Beijing once you are actually there. It is a city that is multiplying itself every second. Everywhere you go, you can see skyscrapers being errected day and night. Millions of people live and work there. The new is rapidly replacing the old and there is a sense of optimism in the air, from the conversations I had with several Beijing residents. I went there for the International Congress on Women in Music, and it was a grandurously organized congress with natioanlly recognized venues such as the Forbidden City Concert Hall. Performances were given by faculty musicians, students, and professionals. My composition "Refrain" was magnificently played by yangchin virtuoso Ms. Luo Yuan 揚琴演奏家羅媛. Contemporary music is still a rather new thing in China. The performances hint at a more romantic preference, and music with technology is still at its toddler age. When China aims to showcase its new power in economy, will it also flourish in new arts? Let's watch with great anticipation.

Hsiao-Lan has created her blog in Chinese. It has been a long overdue project because my Chinese typing is sooooo slow. To serve my friends who read only Chinese, I have decided to start this blog so I can be more connected with them.
我終於刻服我中打超慢的問題，現在我有中文部落格了！請大家猛力留言。
點這裡： http://www.wretch.cc/mypage/hlwang2000.

A few of Hsiao-Lan's video works will join women artists around the nation at the Creative Women Unite at The University of Houston Downtown. Creative Women Unite is a conscious movement of women coming together to create a vision of hope for our future by using various art forms.

Location:
Willow Street Pump Station
811 North San Jacinto
Houston, TX 77002 USA

Time:
Saturday, 3/8/2008, 2-9 pm

Brass quintet Transformation and video work Tango Mécanique are selected to perform on the 2008 Society of Composers, Inc. region VI Conference 4/16-4/19. Faculty Brass Quintet led by Randal Adams will be performing the quintet. All events will take place on the campus of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas and free to the public.

Hsiao-Lan is an invited composer to The 2008 International Congress on Women in Music, hosted this year by the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. Refrain for yangchin and tape was composed in 2000 and has been played quite a few times in the United States. This will be the first time this piece gets performed in another country, and by a performer other than yours truly. Hsiao-Lan looks forward to meeting composers and scholars at the ICWM. Dates: 4/18-4/22, 2008.

New collaboration work Nouveau Park between video artist Brandon Duhon and Hsiao-Lan will be screened in Houston this December. The collaboration is a result of the 2007 A/V Swap, an annual event that brings together the creative minds of musicians and filmmakers based in Houston.


Show times:
12/13/2007, 7 pm, Angelika Film Center, Houston TX
12/14/2007, 11:59 pm, Landmark River Oaks Theater, Houston TX

Sunday, November 18th, 7 pm, at The Climate Theater in San Francisco, CA, video collaboration work Hard-Boiled Wonderland will be presented along with other outstanding video works as part of 4D Dream-a-Thon. 4D Dream-a-Thon is an ongoing series of concerts curated by Jen Cohen that, "seeks to provide a venue for film/video artists who use experimental techniques to push the boundaries of traditional cinema."

Eventually video work Tango Mécanique is online. It is in a way still a work in progress. Daniel and I have decided to put it out for people to view. We will make some changes to it in the future, probably there will be a second "intermezzo" and capitulation of the curtain theme.

Hsiao-Lan has recently moved to Houston. She wishes to open a new page in her book of life. Current project is her dissertation composition Soar! for wind ensemble and electronics, which she plans to finish by the end of winter 2007.

Performance of Trio at Athena Festival at Murray State University took place on 3/7/2007. Faculty musicians Sue-Jean Park on the viola, John Hill on the vibraphone, and Stephen Brown on the piano. Enthusiastic musical figures and attentive interplay filled the hall with festival participants and local concert-goers in attendance. Also featured at the festival was tape composition Take a Walk with Me on an all-electronic concert curated by Kris Burns and Scott Locke.

New compositions Tango Mécanique for video and ...and then it turns to gold for brass ensemble and percussion were premiered on 2/19/2007 as part of the Faulk Scholars Concert in Denton, TX.

Collaboration with filmmaker Leah Bell with her latest documentary Access Denied has been completed. Scoring of the film aims to reflect the subject's state of mind - a visual artist who suffers from dyslexia but finds creative outlet in sculpting.

Performance of Trio by resident new music ensemble Musica Nova took place at Central Missouri State University as part of the SCI region VI conference 2007.

The server where this website resides has crashed recently. Repair work is being done at this moment. Please excuse possible errors during this time.

Trio for viola, vibraphone, and piano has been selected to perform on the SCI region VI conference in Warrensburg, MO on 2/9/2007. The new music ensemble Musica Nova from University of Missouri-Kansas City will be performing.