making music for 3.1 Phillip Lim's INTERSECTIONS

photo by Trevor Gureckis

When I was asked to work on INTERSECTIONS, I was thrilled to make music for a fashion designer whose work I love, and to share a collaborative space with incredible artists. INTERSECTIONS aligns with my creative interests and explorations as a composer and interdisciplinary artist, as I often draw inspiration from the quotidian. The composition consists of my own improvisations on synths, my own sarunay samples, midi instruments, which I played as I meditated on the themes of live/love/work/play, and reflected on the imagery and text. I incorporated some field recordings of NYC and wrote a melody for alto sax, which features my friend, the talented musician Aakash Mittal.

Collaborating with 3.1 Phillip Lim was a wonderful and harmonious (no pun intended!) experience. I really felt that they trusted me as an artist while providing excellent direction that made the work as great as it could be.

Along with my music, INTERSECTIONS features the works of Dong Ping Wong and his team at Food Architects; photographer Jiro Konami; graphic design studio Social Species, and original poems by Fatima Ahman, Jessica Kim, Vanessa Niu and Serena Yang.

Good news: the installation is open to the public on February 10th and 11th from 12pm-4pm at 408 Broadway, NYC.

photo by Trevor Gureckis

bts: reimagining carnival of the animals

 
 

In March, Sozo Artists brought me in to compose a piece for violin, cello, two pianos, and electronics for a collaboration with poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph, choreographer Francesca Harper, and dancer Wendy Whelan. It’s a reimagining of Saint-Säens’ Carnival of the Animals and it is an intentional response to the January 6 insurrection.

While I was making this, I needed to keep several things in mind: how to have my own voice pierce through a widely-known classical work; how to make something simultaneously original and familiar; supporting the text and choreography; making something for musicians I don't know and am not going to meet in person; writing an electronics part that works without click.

Left to right: Pauline Kim Harris, Walter Aparicio, Thea Mesirow

Marc would make audio recordings in addition to the text doc, and I’d listen to it over and over again. And again. Due to the project involving spoken word, where timing may not be rigidly measured, I allowed for space and flexibility in my score. There are also a couple of movements where the musicians are specifically directed to follow Marc’s verbal text rather than a set tempo, and I indicate this with performance notes and arrows pointing to words. In one movement, the ensemble doesn’t even need to stay together, but rather chase the text. I also really do not like click track, and again, I gathered this wasn’t going to be rigid or metronomic, so each cue is signaled by Piano 1, and I indicated this with a cute little hand symbol.

Vicky Chow and Walter Aparicio

I workshopped with violinist Pauline Kim Harris, cellist Thea Mesirow, and pianists Walter Aparicio and Vicky Chow. I’m so fortunate to be able to hear my music with live musicians rather than rely on shrieky midi, and to be in a process with colleagues I trust and feel comfortable with. There will be a preview performance on August 18 presented by La Jolla Music Society. (And I will finish the last movement this week!)  :-D