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Orchestra
year: 2024
duration: 15'
creation: 12 October 2024 . Espace Malraux, Chambery, France . l'Orchestre Pays de Savoie (dir. Pieter-Jelle Deboer), and soloists Elise Chauvin (sp) Lucas Henri (cb), Quatour Bela, Ensemble vocal 20.21, Jean Rondeau (hpch) James McVinne (pft)
commissioned by: The Ministry of Culture France (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) 'l’Aide à l’écriture d’une oeuvre musicale originale'
notes:
“ I forget to remember when I am with you “ is a unique project and a collection of 5 compositions with various instrumentations conceptualised at the request of the 5 Alps Festival Network.
Each work can be performed individually or superposed on top of one another.
The titles of each layer is as follows :
Singing La di da - for soprano and double bass
Part 1 of the I forget to remember series
For a world premiere at “ La Breche Festival “ 11 May 2024
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In the Shade - for string quartet
Part 2 of the I forget to remember series
For a world premiere at “Music et Nature en Bauge” Festival 01 August 2024
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Silent Songs - for 3 part choir (SAB)
Part 3 of the I forget to remember series
For a world premiere at “Festival les Nuits d’été” Festival 04 August 2024
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The stories we tell - for harpsichord and pianoforte
Part 4 of the I forget to remember series
For a world premiere at “Bel-Air Clavier Festival” 21 September 2024
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Veiled visions of - for orchestra (2 oboes, 2 horns, strings 6.5.4.3.1)
Part 4 of the I forget to remember series
For a world premiere at “Les Nuits Romantiques” Festival 28 September 2024
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I forget to remember when I am with you
Tutti Version - for soprano and double bass duo, string quartet, choir, harpsichord and pianoforte duo, and orchestra
For a world premiere at Espace Malraux, Chambery, 12 October 2024
In the event that the works are reprised in combination with other parts, the titles of the works in the program should be as follows: For example, if combining Part 1, 2, and 4
The Stories we tell, In the Shade, Singing la-di-da
**Please note for the declaration SACEM, each festival just has to search for the title of the piece in bold and declare that.
Using the specificities of each festival and the place in which the festival takes place as inspiration for this commission. I hope to write a piece that can be unique for each festival but can also be a uniting force for all 5 festivals in the Savoie region. My proposition is to write 5 separate and distinct pieces that can then be superposed one on top of the other such that a 6th meta-work is created (like the classic French dessert millefeuille)
“I forget to remember when I am with you” is thus a “multi-perspective” work that superposes smaller stand-alone parts to create a large meta-structure. While each part is unique and whole on its own and tells its own story, it is only when combined and put into relation to another part that a whole new perspective on what was only one side of the story opens up.
This is a proposition to hear musical materials in a different and in multiple ways. The global picture of the large orchestral work hides a more intimate and secret world. This endeavour is a continuation of my work “of smaller things” (2019) the impetus of which were the following thoughts:
Sometimes an individual’s story and personal experience of an event is not quite the same as the shared experience. How do we connect the one and the many? Is the sum always greater than its parts? Does speaking your personal truth diminish the power of the truth? And do we even have time today to walk a mile in another’s shoes? Maybe the world might just be a slightly better place if we listened to the music of the unheard.
Each festival will premiere the following instrumentation and will then be combined into a larger whole.
There can also be various permutations of the works for a combination of instrumentations undecided at this point. I constructed the text of this piece to tell 2 perspectives of the same story.
I gave one protagonist a reason to sing, and the other a reason to be silent.
It is often the case in life that we have bits and pieces of information and our human brain has to construct the narrative ourselves but it is rather rare that I am given such a unique opportunity to create a work where : one part of the public hear one side of the story, and a completely different audience the other side. And even for those who will follow the progression of the 5 festivals, to have them wait until the final reconstitution to hear both sides of one same story. The construction of the piece itself, and working with the musicians, has been a pleasure as I push the limits of what it means for me to create layers of meanings that are then changed and re-contextualised when placed one on top of another or side by side.
year: 2020
duration: 11'
creation: 03 September 2021 . Nouveau Siècle, Lille, France . l'Orchestre Français des Jeunes (dir. Fabien Gabel)
commissioned by: l'Orchestre Français des Jeunes
notes:
When we think of Salome, we conjure images of the femme fatale, a erotised biblical figure and the predatory woman, decadent, scandalous and sadomasochistic ideals of the late-19th century that is difficult to reconcile with today’s modern day views. While analysing the text of Wilde, I noticed a running theme of “looking” that is very important in the play. Interdiction, and social protocol is also an important element in Wilde’s portrayal of Salome. While the men desired an idealised version of Salome “little dove”, “pale as the moon”. The real Salome sexually awakened by John the Baptist paints a very different picture of who she truly is.
I transported this idea into the orchestral world by creating a strong emotional pull in 2 different directions, representing her emotional struggle between the acquiescence to familial and societal demands that of her true - incomprehensible and macabre self.
To depict that, I pit a sonorous sound-world, with that of an opposing world filled with weird noises, vocalisations and extended instrumental techniques. The 2 worlds represent the within and without of Salome. This tone poem finally ends with large tutti chords that swallow up the true princess Salome, judging her for giving in to her desire.
Re-looking at Salome for this project gave me a new perspective on Strauss’ work that I love. This project is an opportunity to communicate through time and across history with my predecessors that have looked at this character and more importantly the chance to re-paint the picture and re-tell her story:
The men lusted for the young princess Salome, idolised her like the moon, and created a fantasy of the “little dove” that they desire but cannot have.
She constantly rejects the advances of her step-father, but in her own sexual awakening, realises her own desire for undesirable things.
She desires John the Baptist like Herod desires her.
Her grotesque metaphors that she used to profess her love for John the Baptist reveals the real Salome, who she really is. In expressing her desire for John, and using her own means to getting what she wants, she exposes a degenerate society and paints an unflattering picture of what is Herod’s relationship and lust.
She dies, not because of what she has asked for, and for what she desires.
She dies because she is a woman.
Until today, in certain communities, a woman’s identity and her family’s sense of social respect and worth is measured by her acquiescence to family demands. This gives excuses for honour killings and crimes of passions to fester in a domestic setting. The truth is that there is no honour in killing women and girls for choosing to live life on their own terms. In this sense, any woman today could be Salome.
year: 2016
duration: 12'
creation: 02 march 2018 . Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore . Elise Chauvin (sop) & Singapore Symphony Orchestra (dir. Jason Lai)
commissioned by: with the financial support of the National Arts Council Singapore's YAA Grant
notes:
A Monodrame in which the Soprano hijacks the orchestra, plays the piano, percussion instruments, disturbs brass players. She walks amongst the orchestral players, terrorises them, and finally pushes the conductor off the podium all in the aim of questioning her role, and her place on stage and in this world. Text by James R. Currie.
year: 2015
duration: 7'
creation: 28 march 2015 . Saint Malo, France . Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (dir. Darrell Ang)
commissioned by: the National Arts Council Singapore for the Singapore Festival en France
notes:
Written between November 2014 - January 2015, this piece is dedicated to my daughter who was born a day after I completed the score.
This piece is a potpourri of ideas and memories of my hometown Singapore. It contains influences of the Indian Tala, the Gamelan Scale and other elements like the accelerating glissandi often found in Traditional Chinese music. However, all of these musical memories are sieved and re-presented in a contemporary-styled energetic 7 minutes.
Large Ensemble
year: 2024
duration: 12'
creation: 05 July 2024 . Hôtel Maynier d’Oppède, Aix-en-Provence . Ensemble Intercontemporain (dir. Elisabeth Sora Lee) and Claron McFadden (soprano solo)
commissioned by: Festival d'Aix en Provence and Ensemble Intercontemporain
“I linger lately beyond my time” is a loose response to Eight Songs for a Mad King by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow based on the words of George III.
Our version, with text by James R. Currie and music by Diana Soh provides an entry into the world of his wife and counterpart Queen Charlotte. Her life as regent marked the shift into the modern world—a world in which the call of liberation was everywhere, and yet everywhere on stage (in the name of progress and liberation in art) women were shown as mad.
How do you write a piece about someone trying to hold it all together? And how do you write music about sanity and about questioning the assumption that it's always about extreme states? That is our endeavour.
year: 2020
duration: 12'
creation: 02 November 2021 . Schaumbad - Freies Atelierhaus Graz, Austria . Ensemble Schallfeld (dir. Leonhard Garms)
commissioned by: Schallfeld Ensemble, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
notes:
of smaller things is a “multi-perspective” ensemble work where each separate instrumental part can also function as solo / duo pieces. Each part is fixed and composed as a complete whole - like lego-blocks that can then be used for further construction. The ensemble piece is a superposition of these smaller stand-alone parts to create a larger meta-structure. Here, the music functions individually or in combination. It is a different kind of “open-form” exploration where the interpreters can decide when and how to assemble this musical puzzle.
This is a proposition to hear musical materials in different and multiple ways. The global picture of the ensemble work hides a more intimate and secret solo world. Sometimes an individual’s story and personal experience of an event is not quite the same as the shared experience. How do we connect the one and the many? Is the sum always greater than its parts? Does speaking your personal truth diminish the power of the truth? And do we even have time today to walk a mile in another’s shoes? Maybe the world might just be a slightly better place if we listened to the music of the unheard.
year: 2019
duration: 11'
creation: 26 March 2019 . Conservatorio G. Verdi di Milano, Italy . Divertimento Ensemble (dir. Sandro Gorli)
commissioned by: Divertimento Ensemble for Rondo 2019, as part of their composer-in-residence program
notes:
year: 2018-2019
duration: 15-20'
creation: 13 February 2019 . Maison de la Radio, Radio France, Paris, France . Ensemble Court-Circuit (dir. Jean Deroyer)
commissioned by: The Ministry of Culture, (DGCA) France for Festival Presence 2019, Radio France
notes:
<<Modicum>> consists of a collection of 7 brief, modular musical snippets and 6 interludes whose sequence can be altered with each interpretation, in order to create different dramatic forms and shapes. It is ideal that this work is performed back to back twice; or would open and close the concert. The 7 modules can be played without the 6 interludes and vice-versa.
The order of the 2nd interpretation of the work could be decided by the musicians or the conductor either before the 2nd interpretation, or even “live” during the piece itself depending on where the musicians are on stage. A third possibility of determining the 2nd interpretation includes a decision made by the audience after the first listening of the piece: The public could enter their chosen order of the movements into a computer / smartphone app and the eventual order of the movements is then calculated and determined like so.
<<Modicum>> is part of a triptych that deals with the idea of “insignificance” and “smaller” materials in combination to create something larger - meta-rhythms and meta-melodies - and with issues of modularity in musical form and its implied dramatics.
What is of musical interest to me in this particular project is the intellectual challenge to envision the possibilities available between the brief modular movements of the piece, and to construct various large-scale lines that work dramatically no matter the eventual unfolding of events. I feel that modularity in music has potential to be explored and worked on in a way that does not undermine musical precision of the composition, but only enhances and/or change its contextual meaning. Perhaps this is also an instinctive response to our current era where everything is cut up into small pieces and we are often switching quickly between activities. Coming from the latin noun modus which means “measure”. <<Modicum>> is defined as a small measure of something, especially something desirable or valuable. This work belongs belongs to a cycle of works that began in 2015 with <<iota>> for 13 instruments in which the impetus is the idea of small insignificant details used in combination to build a stronger and larger richness. The work 'of smaller things' completes this triptych.
year: 2020
duration: 12'
creation: 20 June 2021 . Abbey de Royaumont, Val d'Oise, France . Students from Val d'Oise region
commissioned by: Fondation Royaumont and Fondation Vareille for the program Un violon dans mon école
notes:
These 5 pieces provides a platform and an opportunity for the students in the Vareille's violin program to build on and deepen their musical knowledge and understanding, as well as enhance their creative involvement during the 4-year program. The themes chosen for the collection corresponds to natural phenomenon and stimuli around us and are short pieces written in various tempo, form and moods that utilises different playing techniques adapted to beginner violinists from 4 - 8 years of age.
The collection contains 5 short pieces :
C’est La Pluie !
La Grotte, la grotte
L’Océan Sonore
Le Ciel Étoilé
Les Auxiliaires du Jardinier
In each piece from the collection contains:
Fixed written out parts with a 3-part violin accompaniment which can be played live or using the audio recording provided.
Graphically notated sections where the students can be freer in their musical expressions and respond immediately to the visual representation of sounds.
Additional co-creation sections, indicated by blank dotted boxes, for the more musically advanced in the group to create and personalise their own short musical excerpts. **This creative process, though entirely optional, should be encouraged and can take place during the violin lessons or even in their own time for the most autonomous of students.
To facilitate the learning and memorising of the music, each piece also comes with a poem (text by Diana Soh) and a graphical student-score representing the structure of the music. Please refer to the pedagogical guide for more information and suggestions on how to approach the creative aspects of this composition.
The graphic design of this score is by Daniel Campbell.
year: 2017
duration: 12'
creation: 10 February 2017 . Helmut Liste Halle, Graz, Austria . Klangforum Wien (dir. Enno Poppe)
commissioned by: impuls International Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music and Ensemble Klangforum Wien.
notes:
In this particular piece iota for Klangforum Wien, I wanted to build rich and constant changes in timbre using small attacks at the starting point; to use the combination of instruments to create a composite rhythmic and melodic line. I also wanted a work that has a clear pulse / groove as one of its characteristics. The idea is to use the smallest “insignificant” details and to create a larger global richness. The melodic lines are often short and split between different instruments and making sense of it all requires taking in the global sound of the entire ensemble (Klangfarbenmelodie, if you want).I find all the ideas of “insignificant” details and things used in combination to build a strong and larger global richness to be uplifting and beautiful, especially in the state of affairs of the world today. It is in this spirit that I started writing iota.
year: 2013 (revised 2014)
duration: 15 minutes
creation: 2014 revised version 17 April 2015 . Deutschlandfunk radio program, Germany . Ensemble Phoenix Basel (dir. Jürg Henneberger)
commissioned by: Goethe-Institut Korea for its Asian Composers Showcase.
notes:
2013 version was first performed by the TIMF Ensemble at Tongyeong International Music Festival.
year: 2013
duration: 12'
creation: 30 May 2014 . Concert Hall, Department, Country . AtHELAS Sinfonietta (dir. Pierre-Andre Valade)
commissioned by: The ATHELAS Sinfonietta, Bit 20 Ensemble and the Klang Festival, Copenhagen with the support of Bit 20 Ensemble / Norwegian Art Counsel
notes:
un deux trios quarte cinq is a work for 15 instruments. The title refers to the smaller groupings of instrumental families: 1 Piano, 2 Percussion, 3 Brasses, 4 Woodwinds and 5 Strings.
At each point in time, there is one of these groups being featured as the central character(s); this solo/soli are catalyst for the other instruments. This work can be viewed as a mini-concerto for a large ensemble.
The changing of groups are also indicative of the changes in musical states of activities and instrumental profiling. The piece changes linearly, beginning with 1 set of characteristics and relational roles and ending with a different musical state and context.
I was inspired by a line from a poem by friend j. currie: "I was a rock, bypassable and small" and was thinking about the paradox that this phrase embodied. Hence in choosing materials, I chose to feature opposing materials and instrumental groupings an attack, decay model with awkward rhythms smooth transitions but confining the instruments mainly to their instrumental family groups.
Metaphorically, it can be liken to the approaching of an object/painting from a distance where our perception is changed gradually as our focus changes from the contextual image to that of the minute grains and textures and the meta sense of what we are viewing (or in this case, listening to) fades into a distant memory as we emerge and are absorbed in a new universe that is focus on other aspects that were perhaps there all along.
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year: 2015
duration: 9'
creation: 11 March 2016 . Orchestral Hall, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Singapore . Ensemble Multilatérale (dir. Léo Warynski)
commissioned by: Ensemble Multilatérale with the support of SACEM
notes:
year: 2007
duration: 7'
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Slee Hall, University at Buffalo, Buffalo New York. New York New Music Ensemble (dir. James Baker)
notes:
year: 2007
duration: 7'
creation: 00 Month 2008 . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Norrbotten NEO (dir. conductor)
notes:
Chamber Music
year: 2023
duration: 10'
creation: 20 May 2023 . MUSOSpace, Singapore . Ensemble Aequilibrium
commissioned by: funded by National Arts Council Singapore's Creation Grant
notes:
year: 2018
duration: 12'
creation: 14 July 2018 . Hôtel Maynier d'Oppède, Aix en Provence, France . Mettis Quartet
commissioned by: Festival d'Aix en Provence
notes:
The three letters “s” in the title refers to silence, solicitation and saturation - 3 portraits of an artist as a young mother.
They say we need silence to create. But I reckon it is that necessary stillness that is hard find.
We are always in demand, to the extent that our head-space is filled with the rhythms of daily mundane affairs, so saturated that it becomes an irritating hum, buzzing at the back of the mind.
And in accommodating the needs of everybody else, the mother appears silent and still.
This piece explores the notion of when to speak, when to move, what to say, what to do, and how to do it all. Every action becomes deliberate, every sound stems from action, and every sound begets motion. I do not want to simply listen the string quartet, I want to watch them dance.
year: 2014
duration: 10'
creation: 00 Month yyyy . France Musique Radio Show . Trio KDM and Elise Chauvin (soprano)
commissioned by: Radio France Emission d'Anne Montaron "Creation Mondiale"
notes:
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year: 2017
duration: 9'
creation: 28 June 2017 . Berlin Konzerthaus, Germany . Ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion (dir. Ya-ou Xie)
This piece is revised from the musical material of 'in a vision, or in none' (2008) that was written in the context of the Acanthes Festival 2008. Conceived for Berlin PianoPercussion and revised for Berlin PianoPercussion.
year: 2014
duration: 10'
creation: 04 May 2014 . Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands . Henri Bok and Eleri Ann Evans (duo Hevans)
notes: commissioned by The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University
he said || she said was written at the request of Henri Bok as part of the Huygens-Fokker microtonal concert series and dedicated to Duo Hevans.
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
If I were...
5ww[fl ob cl bn hn] elec
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year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year: 2010
duration: 7'
creation: 11 September 2010 . Concert Hall, Echizen City, Japan . Tosiya Suzuki et Next Mushroom Promotion
notes: commissioned by Takefu International Music Festival (JAPAN)
Donc ce sera consist of 5 miniatures/impressions to be played continuously.
Each section is distinct in character with a fixed set of sonority and gesture and level of rhythmic activity.
"Dans
le
vieux
parc
solitaire
et
glacé,
Deux
specters
ont
évoqué
le
future...”
[Ro]ob[ta]ject[tions] is a continuous work consisting of 2 parts: The main section [Ro]ob[ta]ject[tions] and a shorter Epi[Inter]lo[lude]gue. The 2nd section was added on at a later date to extend the work ala DVD bonus material style as a series of compressed outtakes and can be used as an epilogue to the main section of the work or as an interlude between 2 repetitions of the main section. This serves to give the form of the work and its duration some flexibility. Hence the piece could last for approximately 7 minutes or 12 minutes depending on the interpreters choice.
Premiered by the Arditti Quartet on 12 March 2010, at the LSO St. Luke’s, London, UK, as part of the BBC-Total immersion Wolfgang Rihm program
This piece was later nominated for the Gaudeamus Prize in composition 2011.
Solo/ Duo
year: 2023
duration: 6'
creation: 29 September 2023 . Théâtre des Capucins, Luxembourg . André Pons-Valdès & Winnie Cheng, violons (members of Ensemble Lucilin)
notes: Commissioned by United instruments of Lucilin
Upon the request of United Instruments of Lucilin to base this new commission on an existing classical piano piece, I thought it might be interesting to write music about music that is already about music! Thus taking inspiration from the Chopin movement of Schumann's Carnaval, I too, like Schumann have freely hidden notes in my work, albeit only the notes of the Chopin movement of the piece.
This piece for 2 violins is also an extension of my fascination with writing for 2 identical instruments, especially where the 2 instruments are constantly alternating between playing together and playing against each other.
year: 2023
duration: 15'
creation:
notes: commissioned by Rosie Middleton
year: 2022
duration: 10'
creation: 19 February 2023 . Grand salle Pierre Boulez - Philharmonie de Paris, France . Karol Mossakowski
notes: Commissioned by Philharmonie de Paris.
Two things always fascinated me about the organ and organists:
(1) Their movements intrigued me, they always look like they were dancing, or operating a very complex machine that requires deadly precision.
(2) The ingenuity of the mechanics of this beast-of-an-instrument that can be controls and greatly changed with only the push of small buttons. The look of the organ itself is so impressive and it's sound so that that it had scared me the first time I encountered the organ as a young child.
Using these 2 things that fascinated me, "on, off, and on again" is written such that the movements of the organist are are choreographed and notated in the score and becomes an important compositional element equal to the resultant sounds produced.
year: 2021
duration: 12'
creation: 07 November 2021 . Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix en Provence, France . Paul Zientara Gérard Causée
notes: commissioned by Festival Nouveau Horizons 2021
This piece for 2 violas allows a chance to create a musical dialogue where 2 identical instruments are constantly alternating between playing together and playing against each other.
I thought it would be interesting to write for 2 identical instruments because of its immense potential for them to play as 1, and the sounds to completely melt into one another or to have the individual interpreter’s sounds (re)emerge from this unity.
On the contrary, such an instrumentation also creates the possibility of juxtaposing very different musical aspects and characteristics of the very same instrument together so that we can also potentially hear the extreme differences and capabilities of this instrument at the same time.
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year: 2020-2021 *revised august 2022
duration: 12'
creation: version viola and cristal baschet
19 October 2021 . Salle de l'Odyssée, Durtal, France . Catherine Brisset (cristal baschet) and Françoise Ruscher (viola)
creation: version viola and piano
17 Septembre 2023 . Festival Ensemble(s), Théâtre L'Echanger, Bagnolet, France . Laurent Camatte (viola) and Jean-Marie Cottet (piano), Ensemble Court-circuit
notes: Commissioned by C. Brisset and F. Ruscher for their project "Cristal Variables"
I wrote this piece thinking about how many times I'm up late at night with my child in my arms, looking out the window, listening to the sounds of the night and the sounds made by my child and watching the sky change it colours at dawn, all perceived
in a state of drowsiness.
I created two sound colors and two distinct musical gestures, one for the Cristal Baschet and the other for the viola, the two instruments co-existing both in their individuality but also melting together as a kind of soundscape.
The version for viola and piano was arranged on request and for the musicians of Ensemble Court-circuit.
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
[p][k][t]
The title [p][k][t] refers to the consonances that are uttered in the piece.
I wanted to write a piece utilising only live processing and no pre-recorded audio sounds. I chose the piccolo because I am fascinated by the constraints that comes with working with such an enigmatic and difficult instrument. The piece is percussive, with delicate activities and the instrumental writing developed with the uses of a lot of vocalisation and percussive utterances. I am partial to this type of sounds and I found that plosive and fricative consonances on the piccolo give a very unique sound. One of the aims was to find an instrumental writing (in certain parts of the piece) that is neither vocal nor instrumental; something between the two.
For this piece, I view the electronics as an augmentation and enhancement of the instrumental writing itself and with all the electronic sounds are processed live. This piece is dedicated with thanks to Adriana Ferreira and Emmanuel Jourdan, my working partners!
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year: 2009
duration: 9'
creation: 12 September 2009 . Abbey de Royaumont, France . Jessica Rona (viola) and Brice Martin (bassoon) - Ensemble Linea
version for cello and bassoon
creation: 10 October 2010 . Slee Hall, Buffalo NY, USA . Rohan de Saram (cello) and Pascale Gallois (bassoon)
notes: Written during the framework of Fondation Royaumont's Voix Nouvelles 2009 Festival
year: 2015-2016
duration: 8'
creation: 20 February 2016 . Shibura House, Tokyo, Japan . Ryoko Aoki
notes: Commissioned by Ryoko Aoki with the support of The Japan Foundation
5 Pieces for Catarina Domenici
pf
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year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
For
cl pf
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year: 2009
duration: 7'
creation: sometime in 2009...Buffalo NY, USA . Jean Kopperud (clarinet) and Stephen Gosling (piano)
7 Etudes per Paolo Cavallone
pf
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year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year:
duration:
creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
Vocal/ Opera/ Theatre
year: 2023
duration: 7'
creation: 26 June 2023 . Gymnase Alice Milliat, l'ille-Saint-Denis, France . Ensemble vocal Sequenza 9.3 (dir. Catherine Simonpietri)
notes: Commissioned by Ensemble vocal Sequenza 9.3
This work is written in the framework of the project Cantate 2024, a project led by Ensemble Sequenza 93 as part of the Cultural Olympiads 2024.
The text is written by Marion Aubert playing on the homophones "Ackee" : a fruit - and "a qui"? : whose? (fr).
The music is at times fast, rhythmic and virtuosic with rapid changes in vocal qualities from speaking - whispering - singing. The text mysterious and poignant is a call for solidarity and highlights the inner world of many - if not all - women.
year: 2022
duration: 105'
creation: 04 May 2022 . Théâtre Auditorium Poitiers, France . Ensemble Ars Nova (dir. Lucie Leguay)
notes:
Produced by Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, ensemble Ars Nova, Cie MPDA, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, La Monnaie / De Munt, TAP – Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers, OARA, ensemble Lucilin, Opéra national de Bordeaux, Opéra de Limoges.
With the support of enoa – European network of opera academies et le programme Europe Créative de la Commission européenne
In Bizet: Carmen has just been murdered. Her ex-companion José ends up confessing the facts... Curtain calls.
The Carmen Case now sets to music the facts of a feminicide that divides public opinion. In present day, the prosecutor, the victim, the accused, the defense and the witnesses present the facts, respond to the accusations, contest the defamations ; the accused recalls the events passed. The past, the present and thus the future all presented within one hour 45 minutes
Based on the famous opera Carmen by Georges Bizet, Alexandra Lacroix and Diana Soh engage in an astonishing form of contemporary historical fiction which reveals that the Carmen affair was never closed...
year: 2021
duration: 12'
creation: 12 February 2022 . Festival Presences, Maison de la Radio, Paris, France . La Maitrise de Radio France (dir. Sofi Jeannin)
notes: Commissioned by Festival Presences, Radio France
Tu es magique for female SSA youth choir is written at the request of Sofi Jeannin for Festival Presences Radio France.
This piece is a collection of 7 short pieces based on a poem written by the composer herself. The sung text, might appear to be nonsensical syllables at times but are actually words from the poem are translated to various languages from Chinese, to Finnish to Croatian amongst others, and selected for their sonic qualities.
Constructed as a series of short vignettes, each movement is a sort of meditation / incantation based on a phrase or keyword in the poem.
The text speaks of freedom, and liberation and the courage to be unabashed about who we are.
Tu es magique.
Fais-toi des ailes et voles,
Dis leur 'non'.
Prie pour le feu et que meurent les anciens dieux
La pluie tombera, tu danseras,
Les cloches sonneront
Et tu chanteras ta propre lumière.
year: 2021
duration: 65'
creation: 06 Nov 2021 . Théâtre du Pont du Jour, Lyon, France . Libretto by Yann Verburgh . Staging by Richard Brunel
notes:
'Zylan ne chantera plus' is first of all a true story. That of a young homosexual singer who became a pop star in his country. Arrested then incarcerated, he eventually disappeared. Inspired by this story, Yann Verburgh wrote the text of the work, resonating with questions about homophobic hatred and the danger, sometimes mortal, that it poses to its victims. First performed at the Théâtre du Point du Jour, this traveling show will travel to meet new audiences, in different districts of Lyon, the Metropolis and the municipalities of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Executive producer : Cie Anonyme
Administration : Colin Pitrat - Les Independances
Co-production Cité de la voix , Opéra de Lyon, Comédie de Valence, CDN Drôme Ardèche, Théâtre du Pont du Jour.
Musical commission by Chant de Linos with the support of Jean-François Dubos, William Kadouch-Chassaing, Emeric Languerand, Francis Laudette, Jean-Baptiste Massignon, Thomas Raoux-Cassin, Corinne Thouvenin and the Rothschild Foundation
Based on an idea by Benjamin Alunni and Richard Brunel
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creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
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creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
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creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
Commandée par ERDA-accentus pour le jeune choeur de paris, cette oeuvre “voyelles” utilise le poème Les Voyelles de Rimbaud.
Comme avec toute la musique chorale, la coordination et l'ajustement des voyelles entre les chanteurs a une importance capitale pour créer un son unifié. Par conséquent, je sentais que ce poème était idéal pour ce contexte de travail avec les jeunes chanteurs. En outre, j'ai été attirée par l'idée de pouvoir articuler 5 sections de musique basées sur les 5 sons de voyelles. Chaque section est caractérisée par un travail sur une voyelle spécifique. La pièce se termine par un moment qui fait entendre toutes les voyelles présentées durant les 5 sections qui précèdent.
J’envisage cette pièce comme une exploration du timbre par le jeu des voyelles. Je choisis de me concentrer uniquement sur des textures et des harmonies contrastées afin de mettre en valeur l’essence du texte et de manière à permettre aux chanteurs de se concentrer sur ces voyelles en leur laissant un espace de liberté pour l’interprétation.
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creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
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creation: 00 Month yyyy . Concert Hall, Department, Country . Ensemble (dir. conductor)
notes: commissioned by institution
year: 2012/2013
duration: 60 minutes
creation: 19 December, 2013 . Budapest Music Center, Hungary . Ensemble (dir. Lin Liao)
notes: Supported by Budapest Music Center and Ulysses Network
6 composers, 3 singers, 3 instrumentalists, and 1 conductor: Out at S.E.A. is a joint project supervised by Péter Eötvös, Luca Francesconi and Balázs Horváth and supported by the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation and the Budapest Music Center. The opera has toured in Milan, Brussels (Flagey) and Mazsalaca, Latvia (International Workshop for Young Composers).
Libretto by András Almási-Tóth, based on Sławomir Mrożek’s play Out at S.E.A. (Someone Eats All).
Sławomir Mrożek’s one-act absurd drama is an embittered and disillusioned parable about issues of alienation, abuse of power, conformity, and the limits of freedom; about the possibilities of manipulation and the loss of belief in democracy. This is all packed into a grotesque but simple situation: three men in a boat have to decide which one of them should be eaten by the other two for survival. The three characters exemplify three types of people in society: the clever Manipulator, the cynical Conformist, and the eternal Victim.
The 6 composers are
Version 1: Máté Gergely Balogh, Christian Flury and Diana Soh
Version 2: Samu Gryllus, Koka Nikoladze and Mariana Ungureanu
Commissioned by SYC Ensemble Singers (dir. Jennifer Tham)
Vak is a collection of 3 short pieces for choir. The Text - or “syllable choices” of this piece was written and adapted for its onomatopoeic qualities. Phrases and memories of kopitiam talk, and school time recitations of Mandarin tongue twisters hide within the text. Vak is the Sanskrit word for speech, personified goddess, source of creation, and bringer of truth; at the same time, it is also a mix of utterances that form an aural memory of Singapore.
Salutanya: Prelude “Nonsense now, definitely no sense later…”
Vak: “When in doubt, pray, split, ramble, and just breathe…”
Salutanya: Postlude “It is best to entertain oneself with song when someone is obviously spouting nonsense”
Je suis un chanteur
theatre piece
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year: 2013
duration: 12'
creation: 12 May 2013 . Festival Extension, Auditorium Antonin Artaud, Ivry-sur-Seine, France . Students from Conservatoire Ivry-sur-Seine (Class of Rachel Guilloux)
notes: Commissioned by La Muse en Circuit, with the support of l'ARIAM and l'ADIAM 94
A fluxus-inspired instructional piece for a group of performers.
The Boy who lived down the lane
mez bar fl cl pf perc vn vc db
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year: 2011
duration: 25'
creation: 11 August 2011 . Tête-a-tête Festival 2011, London Riverside Studios, United Kingdom . Size Zero Opera
notes: Commissioned by Size Zero Opera
Richard Fitch (direction) Fly Davis (Costumes and Set design) Jonathan Mann (musical direction) with Laura Bowler as The Girl and Christopher Jacklin as The Old Man.
Libretto by James R. Currie
Using only text purely from English nursery rhymes, James R. Currie weaved a dramatic web about a lost of innocence, a coming of age and the dangers of relationships.
Laughing piece
theatre piece
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year: 2007
duration: 8'
creation: 05 December 2007 . Buffalo New York, USA . Babel vocal ensemble (dir. Tony Arnold)
notes: A fluxus-inspired instructional piece for a group of performers.
American Girls
theatre piece
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year: 2007
duration: 5'
creation: 05 December 2007 . Buffalo New York, USA . Babel vocal ensemble (dir. Tony Arnold)
notes: A fluxus-inspired instructional piece for a group of performers.
Chairs
theatre piece
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year: 2007
duration: 10'
creation: 05 December 2007 . Buffalo New York, USA . Babel vocal ensemble (dir. Tony Arnold)
notes: A fluxus-inspired instructional piece for a group of performers.
Repercussion
ch
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year: 2007
duration: 12'
creation: 12 April 2007 . YST Concert Hall, Singapore . SYC Ensemble Singers (dir. Diana Soh)
Electronic Music
year: 2022
duration: 3'
creation: QR code installation on the wall of Mairie de Sault 84, France.
note: Commissioned by La Phare à Lucioles as part of a composer's residency program
year: 2014
duration: 12'
creation: 19 September - 26 October 2014 . Centre Pompidou . Film Soundtrack to D. Kirsaoff "Brumes d'automne'
notes: Commissioned by IRCAM - Centre Pompidou for the framework of Bertrand Bonnello Rétrospective au Centre Pompidou
Worshippers of the Machine
elec[improvisation] dancers
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year: 2012
duration: 12'
creation: 29 June 2012 .IN VIVO Dance Workshop Manifeste Festival . Company Zoo (Thomas Hauert)