Traditions in Transition:
Young Artist's Voices
Oblique Light
Luong Hue Trinh
European Music Festival 2019 at the Youth Theatre Hanoi, Vietnam.
In the Franco-Vietnamese concert "Lettres de Hanoï" 30.11.19, produced by French Institute - L'Espace.
Dedicated to Emmanuel Labrande.
Artists:
Doan Thanh Binh: traditional singing
Pablo Tognan: cello
Minh-Tâm Nguyen: percussions
Emmanuel Labrande: poem, reading & vocal
Luong Hue Trinh: electronics & visuals.
Herutjokro as Posthuman
Dion Nataraja
Herutjokro as Posthuman is a piece that explores the ideas of Romo Herutjokro Semono (1900 - 1981), the founder of Kapribaden—one of many Javanese kebatinan groups—in relation with the discourse of posthumanism. Conceptually, it is an attempt to deconstruct and build new ideas based on the Javanese idea of rasa; rasa is secularized, reinterpreted, and translated into formal and extra-musical processes. At the technical level, it is an attempt to explore ideas such as orchestration of gamelan extended techniques, gamelan-based improvisation, alternative tuning (the gendèr and suling in this piece is retuned), spectral harmony, and algorithmic processes.
Dion Nataraja is an emerging composer, artist, and scholar from Indonesia. He is currently studying music composition in Bennington College, Vermont. His works have been focusing on the intersection of areas such as spectral music, Javanese gamelan, algorithmic composition, posthumanism, postcolonial studies, and critical theories.
Revisiting Opening Locks
Professor Bernard Lanskey, Xiangning Lin, Muse Ye, Jonathan Shin
This is akin to a "director's cut" of the panel discussion, titled "Opening Locks, Evolving Horizons", led by Professor Bernard Lanskey at PGVIM International Symposium 2020- Is the Virtual Real? This edition preserves most of the original dialogue and elevates with additional visuals, higher quality video excerpts and smoother transitions.
Simpala’ Badan concert version
Dominic Laxamana
Music for modified kulintang ensemble, orchestra, and synthesizers Playing time: 10 minutes
Earlier this 2021, I was commissioned by the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) to compose for their dance recital films. One of the films tells the tale of a Maranao woman who was undergoing existential angst for not being satisfied as one of the many wives of her man. That is the plot synopsis of the dance film Simpala’ Badan: Tugon ng Katawan, Kamalayan sa Sarili (2021) under the direction and choreography of Crizza Urmeneta.
In my search for new virtual instruments to play with, I stumbled upon a free sampled kulintang VST uploaded by the Manila-based composer, Mark. A Galang. It is because of my possession of this virtual instrument, that I immediately chose the Maranao-influenced film in which the director wanted music based on the Tidtu mode of playing.
Since I was writing music for Mr. Galang’s specific kulintang set of notes, I thought of writing an E major fugue based on the scale provided, and the episodes shall be based on the film’s framework provided to me by Ms. Urmeneta.. I ended up writing 10 minutes worth of music, knowing it will be cut to 7 minutes as I was informed prior to writing. The film score was submitted as a work for kulintang, agungs, gandingan, tongatongs, and synthesizers.
For the 2021 UP Conemus recital, Himlay, I orchestrated the complete framework of Simpala’ Badan’s music.
Free kulintang VST by Mark A. Galang:
https://detunized.com/downloads/philipperc/
Composer biography
Dominic Laxamana is a composer and keyboardist from Bataan province of the Philippines. He often writes for symphony orchestra, and rock band. He trained in composition under Dr. Maria Christine Muyco, Dr. Marie Jocelyn Marfil, and Professor Josefino “Chino” Toledo. He has studied music theory under Dr. Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng, Prof. Mary Katherine Cabral, and Dr. Jonas Baes.
Mr. Laxamana writes in a manner that emphasizes on extended harmonies, klangfarbenmelodie (tone- color melody), and the textural weaving of impressionism. Polyrhythms are often utilized in his works to veer from the familiar time conventions of classical music and film scores. Occasionally, he’d delve into the language of musique concrète, and play for the band Fire Underwater.
Mr. Laxamana, along with fellow composers Sage Ilagan, Joshua Ansale, Eugene Talusan, Jose Buencamino, and Jordan Peralta, founded MusiKolektibo in 2020, an extra-academic group of Filipino composers that provides free online forums regarding music and production techniques. The group is currently producing its first compilation album.
Tatô
Jose Antonio Buencamino
Visuals:
Visual Artist: Manny Montelibano
Additional Footage & Edits: Jose Antonio Buencamino and Biag Gaongen
Movement: Biag Gaongen
In October 2019 I was commissioned by Biag Gaongen to make music for his multi-media dance piece as part of CCP's choreographer's workshop, NeoFilipino. His work was a collaborative project with visual artist Manny Montelibano. They have graciously allowed me to include their visuals into my own work, which includes Biag’s movement and choreography. I edited and added a bit of my own footage as well.
The music was inspired by the flowing of the ink, of the pricking of the skin, of the steady formation of the patterns, and of war and ritual, with which tattooing is associated.
This project with NeoFilipino served as the impetus of the endeavor of interpreting creative processes into sound. While it was with weaving that my curiosity was initially piqued, Tatô was the first of the pieces to be realized, and this spurred me on to write music about the rest. The music you will hear is based on this initial work but serves as my own interpretation and impression of the creative processes involved in the art of tattoo.
Tête-à-tête
Pongtorn Techaboonakho
Tête-à-tête for violin, cello and electronic
Composer: Book Pongtorn Techaboonakho (1996-)
Musician: Tacet(i) Ensemble
Premiere at Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium 2020; 18 December 2020
Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre
Bangkok, Thailand
“Tête-à-tête” (for violin, cello and electronic) means a face-to-face conversation in French. This piece is for strings, and live electronic which consists of a cue list of pre-prepared sounds. The string parts make extensive of extended techniques for bowing throughout the piece. The piece establishes a conversation between the performers and the electronics which play the part of another player. The live electronics trigger digital and futuristic sound elements to represent a digital music instrument played by a robot. It is thus like a conversation between people and a machine.
忆·元宵 Reminiscences of "Yuan Xiao"
蔡宗玲 Jon Lin CHUA
Inspired by the famous traditional nanyin piece Yuan Xiao Shi Wu (Lantern Festival) which relates the tragic love story of Chen San and Wu Niang, Reminiscences of Yuan Xiao was envisioned as an abstract re-creation of the original piece. Reminiscences draws upon not only the pitch material, melodic, and gestural features of the original piece, but also the heterophonic texture and the pacing characteristic of nanyin vocal music in general, as well as certain structural features of the tune. This re-creation of the original tune also attempts to engage with the meaning of the text at various points within the piece. The work as a whole represents a contemporary reinterpretation of an ancient piece.
《忆·元宵》的音乐素材取自于著名南音曲《元宵十五》。其曲陈述着民间传说陈三与五娘的爱情悲剧。《忆·元宵》在我的创作概念中，属于在原曲基础上抽象化的再创作品。除了采用原曲的音高元素、旋律等音乐特征，也采取了一般南音曲中常见的支声复音、速度变化、及原曲中的一些结构上的特性。此曲也保留及抒发了原曲中歌词的意境。《忆·元宵》象征着对一首南音古曲的一种现代演绎。
Ding Yi Music Company in collaboration with Esplanade Theatre on the Bay Presents
Tune in 2020
Reminiscences Of "Yuan Xiao"
Ding Yi Music Company (Singapore)
Conductor: Quek Ling Kiong
Composer: Chua Jon Lin
鼎艺团与滨海艺术中心联合呈现
聆听2020
《忆·元宵》
演奏：鼎艺团 (新加坡）
指挥：郭勇德
作曲：蔡宗玲