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)”
I answered this questionnaire for the pianist and musicologist I-Hsuan Olivia Tsai in March last year. She has been doing research into Western composers living and working in Asia, and has given presentations on my music alongside that of Paul San Gregory and Michael Timpson. Her next Lost in Diversity presentation will be at the…Continue Reading ““Lost in Diversity”- questionnaire response (from March ’23)”
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)”
I was excited to receive notification from Cambridge Scholars Publishing that the Proceedings of both the 2022 and 2023 sessions of the International Symposium of Contemporary Music Research, which I organise under the auspices of Nanhua University, have been accepted for publication. The titles I’ve chosen for the two sets of Proceedings are: 2022: Shifting…Continue Reading “Exciting News! Symposium Proceedings accepted for publication (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)”
(scroll down for English programme note and song texts) 青年歌唱家黃盈慈，青年鋼琴演奏家邱杏慈和長笛演奏家彭建翔於2023年4月13日在台北誠品表演廳，在雅歌樂集合唱團 「春暖花開歌先知」的音樂會中首演了我專門為他們創作的《貉獠之歌》（福佬歌謠改編 ），首演圓滿成功。黃盈慈對歌詞中不同角色與情緒的轉換、畫面轉折和戲劇性效果的詮釋都很生動。我從觀眾席裡聽著可以感覺到觀眾真的很欣賞我的音樂！ 我改編的歌曲如下： （一）《五更鼓》 （二）《草蜢弄雞公》 （三）《留傘調》 （四）《一隻鳥仔哮啾啾》 請滑到最下面，就可以閱讀歌詞。 《貉獠之歌》：福佬歌謠改編 歌詞 （一）《五更鼓》 （僅第一、第五段） 一更的更鼓月照山 牽君仔的手摸心肝 阿君問娘欲按怎 隨在阿君的心肝 五更的更鼓天漸光 我君啊要轉心頭酸 滿腹心情漸漸悶 頭暈目眩面青青 （二）《草蜢弄雞公》 （僅第一到第四段） 人生六十伊都像古樹 無疑食老伊都愈健丟 看著小娘伊都面肉幼 害我學人伊都老風流 啊伊都那噯唷啊伊都老風流 草蜢弄雞公 啊 雞公披搏跳 老人食老伊都性愛守 毋通變成伊都老不修 若是愛我伊都做朋友 可惜你是伊都長喙鬚 啊伊都那噯唷啊伊都長喙鬚 草蜢弄雞公 啊 雞公披搏跳 嫌我喙鬚伊都歹看樣 我著來剔伊都光溜溜 你著交我伊都卡永久 少年僥雄伊都無尾溜…Continue Reading “《貉獠之歌》 Songs of the Raccoon Dogs （Apr. ’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)”
Over the last eighteen months I’ve been engaged in an ongoing project to familiarise myself with the ancient and charming instrumentarium of Chinese court ceremonial music, known as Yayue, a close ancestor of the Japanese gagaku. I’ve approached this from the point of view of first understanding the characteristic atmosphere of a traditional Confucian ritual,…Continue Reading “Yayue project update 雅樂項目更新: Three (More) Yayue for the Confucian “Capping Ceremony” 《三加禮》第二套 (Dec. ’22)”
An update on the video/audio recordings of the pieces selected for inclusion in the “Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composers” (organised by Nanhua University Dept. of Ethnomusicology) : We have reached an important milestone. Po Wei Lai (violin), Yi-Chung Chang (violoncello) and Yun-Yao Kao (piano) (members of the Dominant5 piano quintet) worked…Continue Reading “Symposium of New Works: Recordings of Selected Compositions (July/Aug.’22) 當代作曲家新創作交流會：入選作品的錄影（2022年7至8月）”
I’m was excited to be able to organise once again the Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composers which is took place online on May 21st, under the aegis of Nanhua University Dept. of Ethnomusicology. The academic committee* chose eight papers and six compositions for inclusion in this year’s event. I’m was very…Continue Reading “Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composers (2022.5.21)”
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’ve been working with the Yayue ensemble in the Ethnomusicology department at Nanhua University to compose some new works for this ancient and very special group of instruments. The Chinese name for this music, Yayue (雅樂), literally translates as “elegant music”. the most common English translation is Gagaku, but this is not completely adequate, as…Continue Reading “Yayue Project with Nanhua Ethnomusicology Dept. (Dec. 2021) 跟南華大學民族音樂學系的雅樂團合作：雅樂現代創作研究（21年12月起）”
My recent posts are all a little out of order: I’ve just finished re-editing the videos of a performance from May with the students and professors at Nanhua Ethnomusicology. I was invited to make two arrangements of Buddhist songs celebrating the Buddha’s birthday for the combined forces of the department’s western and Chinese orchestras and…Continue Reading “Songs for the Buddha’s Birthday (performance of song arrangements for western and Chinese orchestras and choir) (2021.5.8)”
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″
I invited my mentor Michael Finnissy to deliver the keynote address at the Nanhua University Dept. of Ethnomusicology’s “Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composers”. See my more detailed post on the symposium here: Nanhua University: Symposium of New Works and Research into Contemporary Composers “Avant-Garde and Experimental Creative Considerations in Art Music”…Continue Reading “Michael Finnissy Keynote Address at Symposium”