The pianist and musicologist Olivia I-Hsuan Tsai recently discussed my music and music-making in China and Taiwan in a presentation given online for the College Music Society. In the same paper, she discussed the music of Paul SanGregory and Michael Sidney Timpson. The link to the abstract, presentation and related video files and links for…Continue Reading “Olivia I-Hsuan Tsai, Lost in Diversity: Western Expatriates in Asia and the multi-cultural influences in their music (Nov.’24)”
About three weeks ago, my eponymous Holloway Children’s Choir held a party to celebrate the fifth anniversary of our trip to the UK for a competition and tour. Five years ago, I never would have imagined that they would hold a reunion party every year for the next five years, each time with a different…Continue Reading “Holloway Children’s Choir- UK Tour Fifth Anniversary Party (Sept.’24)”
https://www.parmarecordings.com/…/division-of-memory…/ After a pandemic-induced delay of four and a half years, the launch concert for “Division of Memory” is finally set for November! Hopefully I’ll make it to New York in person. Thanks to Tom and Yoon for seeing the project through after so many years of delays! Can’t wait to hear the pieces live….Continue Reading “Novella in New York- 22nd Nov. ’24”
I’m very excited that soprano Ying-Tzu Huang and pianist Chiu Hsing-Tzu will reprise their performance of my piece Songs of the Raccoon Dogs (Hokklo Folk Transcriptions) , alongside flautist Ming-Li Huang, at the T T Music Space on 19th January 2025. Ying-Tzu Huang has programmed the piece in her vocal portrait, which is part of T…Continue Reading “《自畫像》黃盈慈聲樂獨唱會– 作品演出，《貉獠之歌》：福佬歌謠 Songs of the Raccoon Dogs (Hokklo Folk Transcriptions)- forthcoming performance Jan.’25”
I put on my composer portrait, Ghost in the Machine, on 9th April 2024 in the National Recital Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, in collaboration with Taiwan’s leading contemporary music ensemble, TimeArt Studio. Over the course of three weeks in June, I premiered all five of the pieces from the concert on YouTube; the audio and video…Continue Reading “⟪機械中的幽靈⟫：媒體、照片 “Ghost in the Machine”: Recordings, Photos (April ’24)”
It was a great privilege to be able to participate in the composition workshop with Unsuk Chin, organised by the 2024 Weiwuying International Music Festival. It was an important recognition for me that I am working on pieces which Unsuk Chin deemed worthy of closer inspection, and in which she felt sufficiently interested that she…Continue Reading “衛武營國際音樂節作曲工作坊：照片、心得 Weiwuying International Music Festival Composition Workshop: Photos, Reflection (April ’24)”
購買票：https://www.opentix.life/event/176049… 節目介紹 本場現代室內⾳樂會之宗旨係以英國作曲家、指揮家—盧長劍的五⾸作品來呈現給台灣的藝 術⾳樂愛好者，其中四⾸作品皆是在國外曾受觀眾歡迎但尚未在台灣演出的作品，以及⼀⾸ 世界⾸演的⼗五重奏。盧長劍已來台將近五年，並已經引起了台灣的現代藝術性音樂愛好者的一定矚目。他希望能夠與大家分享他個⼈原創作品的肖像⾳樂會，來將⼀些他在來台以前所創作的重要作品呈現給台灣的觀眾，讓⼤家能更深入地認識他的創作世界。 曲⽬的編制、內容與背後的觀念包羅萬象，包含⼆、四、五、七以及⼗五重奏、有卡農、舞 台上和舞台下的演奏者、⼤⾃然中的靜⽌與流動的描繪、幾何性的拼貼、甚至有蛋⽩質分⼦ 微觀振動的聽覺化！ 盧長劍選⽤⽜津⼤學的哲學教授吉爾伯特・賴爾所創造的短語：「機械中的幽靈」（“ghost in the machine”）作為本場作曲家肖像⾳樂會的標題。儘管賴爾曾使⽤此短語來批 評哲學家勒內・笛卡爾⼼身⼆元論的觀念，因為他並不認為⼈類是⼀個有著靈魂和身體分開 的⼆元合體，但作曲家依然很著迷該比喻，並對他很有共鳴，因為它能貼切地形容本場⾳樂 會所選出的曲⽬均有的共通特點：這五部作品各⾃都有⾃⼰的公式或機械性的過程在背後運 ⾏著，但是它們仍然極其富有豐富的表情和戲劇性的表現⼒，這就是短語中的「機械」與 「幽靈」。 時間藝術工作室希望觀眾能接收到許多刺激與啟發，聽到從未聽過的聲響，藉此考 慮到新的⾳樂表現的可能性，並透過盧長劍有個性的⾳樂創作，重新認識現代⾳樂的語⾔。 演出曲目 ⟪德魯斯基寧卡農⟫ Druskininkanonas (2011) 為中音長笛、雙簧管、降E單簧管、低音管和中提琴而作 ⟪空城故事（第一篇）⟫ Novella (Chapter One) (2016-2017) 為大提琴和鋼琴而作 ⟪亞穩態⟫ Metastable （2019） 為弦樂四重奏而作 I. Godric of Finchale (c.1065-1170) II. Henry Purcell (1659-1695) III. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) IV. Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) V. Morton Feldman…Continue Reading “⟪機械中的幽靈⟫盧長劍作曲家肖像⾳樂會 “Ghost in the Machine”: George Holloway Composer Portrait Concert (April 9 2024)”
The Weiwuying International Music Festival (in Kaohsiung, Taiwan) has chosen me as one of two composers to be commissioned to compose a new piece for their 2025 season. Commissioned composers are also invited to participate in the preceding year’s composer workshop with Unsuk Chin, which happens in April 2024. This was very much “third time…Continue Reading “Weiwuying International Music Festival: 2024 Composition Workshop/2025 Commission 衛武營國際音樂節：錄取2024年作曲工作坊、接受2025年音樂節委託創作”
Festival Link: Die Pipa: Volksmusik aus Taiwan im Spiegel unserer Zeit Six months from conception to completion, South of the Great Wall (《城南荒原》) is one of my more ambitious works to date. I’ve made threee different versions: a duet for soprano and guitar, a trio for sheng, pipa and ‘cello, and a quintet for the…Continue Reading ““South of the Great Wall”- premiere at Passauer Saiten, Passau (March ’24)”
I was honoured to be invited to give the keynote lecture at the 23rd International Music Theory Conference: Principles of Music Composing- “National Versus Global”, held at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA) from November 15th to 17th 2023. The title of my lecture was Composition as an extension of ethnomusicology: the…Continue Reading “Keynote Lecture at 23rd International Music Theory Conference, LMTA”
[To hear one of Chen Yu-Han’s complete recordings of my solo work “Hook” please go to my bandcamp page here. More recordings, including fragments and improvisations, to follow!] In the last year and half I’ve been looking into approaches to human-AI co-creation, working in particular with Glasgow-based scientist Lex O’Brien. They have been helping me…Continue Reading “Human-AI Co-Creation project update (Aug ’23)”
From April to June 2023, I organised for the third year running an international academic symposium for the department of ethnomusicology of Nanhua University. This symposium took the status quo and future trends of contemporary art music in Taiwan and abroad as its research theme. The goal was to assemble contributions (papers and compositions) from…Continue Reading “2023 Third International Symposium of Contemporary Music Research “Contemporary Music, Present and Future”2023年第三屆國際當代音樂研討會與座談 「當代音樂的現況與未來的趨勢」(Apr.-June ’23)”
I wrote the open score piece flourishing as incidental music to be used in the “Crossover Music Theatre” performance, put on by Nanhua University Dept. Ethnomusicology at the All Nations Cinema, Dalin, Chiayi, Taiwan on Christmas Day 2022. 我寫了一首「開放樂譜」《欣欣向榮》作為配樂，用於南華大學民族音樂學系於2022年聖誕節在台灣嘉義大林萬國戲院上演的《樂舞串流》跨域音樂劇場表演。 It was performed by mixed Chinese and Western instruments. There was very little rehearsal time, I…Continue Reading “Crossover Music Theatre incidental music “flourishing” 樂舞串流：《欣欣向榮》(Dec. ’22)”
藉由南華大學研發處的資助，本人已開始進行新的專題研究：“人工智慧作為作曲的輔助工具以及靈感的來源：探索機器學習的風格轉移在音樂創作中的運用之潛力”。 Supported by funding from the Nanhua University Research and Development Office, I’ve begun a new research project: “AI as a compositional aid and a source of inspiration: exploring the potential application of machine learning style transfer to musical creativity”. 我2022年1月應研究中心總監Emily Howard的邀請曾參觀英國皇家北英格蘭音樂學院的音樂與科技研究與實踐中心（PRiSM）。我在研究中心裡有機會了解到他們令人贊嘆的超級電腦「PRiSM sample RNN」的功能，並與學者討論它在輔助作曲上的可能性。我們有討論我初步的研究方向，並規劃進一步的討論。 In January 2022 I was invited by Emily Howard, director of…Continue Reading “人工智慧與作曲的研究項目（音樂與科技的研究與實踐中心 2022年1月參觀）AI in Musical Composition Research Project: visit to PRiSM research centre (Jan.’22)”
I’m delighted to announce that Thomas Mesa and Yoon Lee’s recording of “Novella (Chapter One)” for ‘cello and piano is finally being released this month. Read about the album here: Division of Memory The album is available on the following platforms: Spotify YouTube Apple Music I composed Novella (Chapter One) when I was living…Continue Reading “CD Release: “Novella (Chapter One)” for ‘cello and piano (Oct. 2021)”
My new nine-minute quartet for zhonghu, guzheng, alto saxophone and tuned percussion (marimba doubling vibraphone), titled Moon, has been selected in the latest call for works of the Taiwan Branch of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). It will receive its premiere in the 2022 edition of the Taipei International New Music Festival. For…Continue Reading “New work “Moon” selected for inclusion in 2022 Taipei International New Music Festival (Oct. 2021)”
My recent article on rhythmic notation has been published in Nanhua University’s “Journal of Arts and Design”. Owing to its distribution being very limited, I’ve shared the paper below. For non-Mandarin readers, here is the English abstract: This paper considers practical and ideographic aspects of various notations of rhythms using non-power-of-two divisions of the whole…Continue Reading “Article Published by Nanhua University “Journal of Arts and Design” 南華大學「藝術與設計期刊」發表學術論文（Summer 2021）”
On July 3rd 2021 I organised a one-day online symposium discussing contemporary music under the aegis of Nanhua University, Taiwan. The title of the symposium was “Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composer”. The theme for this year was “Avant-Garde and Experimental Creative Considerations in Art Music”. Over 70 people signed up and…Continue Reading “Nanhua University: Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composers “Avant-Garde and Experimental Creative Considerations in Art Music” 2021.7.3″
This happened a while back but I’ve only just got hold of the concert programme. I was honoured to be made a guest conductor of the Taichung Chamber Choir in November 2020, and my first performance with the choir was as part of the Jazz @ Home concert in National Taichung Theatre on December 24…Continue Reading “Guest conductorship: Taichung Chamber Choir (Jazz @ Home concert, 24th Dec. 2020)”