Entre Noir et Blanc - pour Piano solo -
When I decided to compose a piano piece, I looked at the piano (though I have been playing the keyboard instrument since I was five) and realized that the music I create would be something woven between black and white keys, no matter my thoughts and intentions.
When we say, "black and white" in my culture, it implies "life and death". It is not all the time, of course, and could mean anything, such as a monochromatic picture for instance. I did, however, imply "life and death" in this composition. In our lives, we live "now" but might face death at any moment - we literally exist between "black and white". Rather than being pessimistic, I wanted to focus on what this amazing instrument can do and pursued the possibilities of timbre on the piano, exploring the overtone series and studying master pieces by Impressionistic composers.
I would like to express how grateful I was to have the opportunity from the State MTA and MNTA to create this new composition, and extremely thankful to my pianist friend, Shizuyo Le Nestour to make this piece realized.
“Tango with Mozart” for flute quartet was commissioned by the Lowell Chamber Orchestra during the recent pandemic. Below is the program note I wrote:
I have been admiring tango for a long time. One day I was surfing the internet to search tango and found one scene from the film, “Scent of a Woman”. I became in love with that scene, not knowing what that film is about. Throughout the process of composing my tango, this scene kept inspiring me. The main character said, “there is no mistake in tango, not like life”. The current world is in turmoil, but as creators we must continue creating. Who could imagine that this film would inspire one composer to write a tango almost thirty years after it was created? This is how things should be. Our current creations might inspire someone in decades to come!