Sat June 4, 2016
"In a Distant Sky: Choral Music from the Chinese Diaspora" (Berkeley Show)
SEE EVENT DETAILS
The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco (IOCSF) will present "In a Distant Sky: Choral Music from the Chinese Diaspora" on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 7:30 PM at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St, Berkeley, and on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 7:30 PM at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell St, San Francisco. The concert features the world premiere of "In a Distant Sky" by Huang Ruo, as well as works by Zhou Long, Leong Yoon Pin, Xixian Qu, Toh Ban Sheng, Shui Jiang Tian, Chen Yi, and IOCSF's inaugural Composer-in-Residence Nicholas Weininger.
PROGRAM
Huang Ruo - In a Distant Sky (A World Premiere Commission)
Huang Ruo - Without Words
Chen Yi - Spring Dreams
Leong Yoon Pin - Dragon Dance
Shui Jiang Tian - Usuli Boat Song
Toh Ban Sheng - Lok Sui Tien
Xixian Qu - Pastoral
Zhou Long - Words of the Sun
Matt Boehler - Amen
Rhett Jarmillo - God Gazed Down on You
Nicholas Weininger - As kingfishers catch fire
OF NOTE
IOCSF's spring program is headlined by two minimalist works by noted modernist/minimalist composer Huang Ruo: his 2002 magnum opus "Without Words" and the newly composed "In a Distant Sky" commissioned by IOCSF. Ruo's sweeping, evocative, polyrhythmic and chromatic lines create waves and textures of sound that transport the audience into an ethereal, mind-expanding sonic world.
A selection of other Chinese and Chinese-American pieces on the program spotlights the wide range of styles and subjects of this rich compositional tradition. Zhou Long's "Words of the Sun" sets a naturalistic poem by 20th century poet Ai Qing, father of the famous contemporary artist Ai Weiwei. "Dragon Dance" by Leong Yoon Pin dramatizes a Singaporean version of the traditional Chinese New Year ceremony in which twenty dancers carry a "dragon" to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Xixian Qu's "Pastoral" is a wistful, longing arrangement of an Eastern Mongolian sheepherding song. Toh Ban Sheng's arrangement of "Lok Sui Tien" evokes a child's lament on a rainy day, while Shui Jiang Tian's "Usuli Boat Song" gives rousing life to a northeastern Chinese tale of bountiful fishing and industrious happiness. In a more modernist vein, Chen Yi's "Spring Dreams" uses contrasting rhythmic ostinati to suggest birds singing in a spring meadow and flower petals falling after a storm.
This season also continues IOCSF's annual Composer-in-Residence program. The 2015-2016 Composer-in-Residence is Nicholas Weininger, who has sung with IOCSF since 2007 and who has had several previous works premiered by IOCSF. For this season Weininger has composed "As kingfishers catch fire," a fast-paced, urgent, declamatory setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins' intricate sonnet reflecting on the ways in which all living things joyfully express their nature and emulate the divine.
"IOCSF is excited to be performing such a wide range of pieces from the rich Chinese musical tradition," said Zane Fiala, Artistic Director of IOCSF. "We look forward to bringing both the most traditional and the most avant-garde of Chinese songs to life for our audience."
The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, recipient of the 2011 Chorus America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, is devoted to performing both established repertoire and newly commissioned works by promising composers. To date, IOCSF has premiered more than thirty works, including many from composers found within the ensemble and several that have subsequently been published by Santa Barbara Music, G. Schirmer and Hal Leonard.
Admission is free, although donations are welcome. For more information, visit https://www.iocsf.org.
show less
PROGRAM
Huang Ruo - In a Distant Sky (A World Premiere Commission)
Huang Ruo - Without Words
Chen Yi - Spring Dreams
Leong Yoon Pin - Dragon Dance
Shui Jiang Tian - Usuli Boat Song
Toh Ban Sheng - Lok Sui Tien
Xixian Qu - Pastoral
Zhou Long - Words of the Sun
Matt Boehler - Amen
Rhett Jarmillo - God Gazed Down on You
Nicholas Weininger - As kingfishers catch fire
OF NOTE
IOCSF's spring program is headlined by two minimalist works by noted modernist/minimalist composer Huang Ruo: his 2002 magnum opus "Without Words" and the newly composed "In a Distant Sky" commissioned by IOCSF. Ruo's sweeping, evocative, polyrhythmic and chromatic lines create waves and textures of sound that transport the audience into an ethereal, mind-expanding sonic world.
A selection of other Chinese and Chinese-American pieces on the program spotlights the wide range of styles and subjects of this rich compositional tradition. Zhou Long's "Words of the Sun" sets a naturalistic poem by 20th century poet Ai Qing, father of the famous contemporary artist Ai Weiwei. "Dragon Dance" by Leong Yoon Pin dramatizes a Singaporean version of the traditional Chinese New Year ceremony in which twenty dancers carry a "dragon" to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Xixian Qu's "Pastoral" is a wistful, longing arrangement of an Eastern Mongolian sheepherding song. Toh Ban Sheng's arrangement of "Lok Sui Tien" evokes a child's lament on a rainy day, while Shui Jiang Tian's "Usuli Boat Song" gives rousing life to a northeastern Chinese tale of bountiful fishing and industrious happiness. In a more modernist vein, Chen Yi's "Spring Dreams" uses contrasting rhythmic ostinati to suggest birds singing in a spring meadow and flower petals falling after a storm.
This season also continues IOCSF's annual Composer-in-Residence program. The 2015-2016 Composer-in-Residence is Nicholas Weininger, who has sung with IOCSF since 2007 and who has had several previous works premiered by IOCSF. For this season Weininger has composed "As kingfishers catch fire," a fast-paced, urgent, declamatory setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins' intricate sonnet reflecting on the ways in which all living things joyfully express their nature and emulate the divine.
"IOCSF is excited to be performing such a wide range of pieces from the rich Chinese musical tradition," said Zane Fiala, Artistic Director of IOCSF. "We look forward to bringing both the most traditional and the most avant-garde of Chinese songs to life for our audience."
The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, recipient of the 2011 Chorus America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, is devoted to performing both established repertoire and newly commissioned works by promising composers. To date, IOCSF has premiered more than thirty works, including many from composers found within the ensemble and several that have subsequently been published by Santa Barbara Music, G. Schirmer and Hal Leonard.
Admission is free, although donations are welcome. For more information, visit https://www.iocsf.org.
The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco (IOCSF) will present "In a Distant Sky: Choral Music from the Chinese Diaspora" on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 7:30 PM at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St, Berkeley, and on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 7:30 PM at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell St, San Francisco. The concert features the world premiere of "In a Distant Sky" by Huang Ruo, as well as works by Zhou Long, Leong Yoon Pin, Xixian Qu, Toh Ban Sheng, Shui Jiang Tian, Chen Yi, and IOCSF's inaugural Composer-in-Residence Nicholas Weininger.
PROGRAM
Huang Ruo - In a Distant Sky (A World Premiere Commission)
Huang Ruo - Without Words
Chen Yi - Spring Dreams
Leong Yoon Pin - Dragon Dance
Shui Jiang Tian - Usuli Boat Song
Toh Ban Sheng - Lok Sui Tien
Xixian Qu - Pastoral
Zhou Long - Words of the Sun
Matt Boehler - Amen
Rhett Jarmillo - God Gazed Down on You
Nicholas Weininger - As kingfishers catch fire
OF NOTE
IOCSF's spring program is headlined by two minimalist works by noted modernist/minimalist composer Huang Ruo: his 2002 magnum opus "Without Words" and the newly composed "In a Distant Sky" commissioned by IOCSF. Ruo's sweeping, evocative, polyrhythmic and chromatic lines create waves and textures of sound that transport the audience into an ethereal, mind-expanding sonic world.
A selection of other Chinese and Chinese-American pieces on the program spotlights the wide range of styles and subjects of this rich compositional tradition. Zhou Long's "Words of the Sun" sets a naturalistic poem by 20th century poet Ai Qing, father of the famous contemporary artist Ai Weiwei. "Dragon Dance" by Leong Yoon Pin dramatizes a Singaporean version of the traditional Chinese New Year ceremony in which twenty dancers carry a "dragon" to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Xixian Qu's "Pastoral" is a wistful, longing arrangement of an Eastern Mongolian sheepherding song. Toh Ban Sheng's arrangement of "Lok Sui Tien" evokes a child's lament on a rainy day, while Shui Jiang Tian's "Usuli Boat Song" gives rousing life to a northeastern Chinese tale of bountiful fishing and industrious happiness. In a more modernist vein, Chen Yi's "Spring Dreams" uses contrasting rhythmic ostinati to suggest birds singing in a spring meadow and flower petals falling after a storm.
This season also continues IOCSF's annual Composer-in-Residence program. The 2015-2016 Composer-in-Residence is Nicholas Weininger, who has sung with IOCSF since 2007 and who has had several previous works premiered by IOCSF. For this season Weininger has composed "As kingfishers catch fire," a fast-paced, urgent, declamatory setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins' intricate sonnet reflecting on the ways in which all living things joyfully express their nature and emulate the divine.
"IOCSF is excited to be performing such a wide range of pieces from the rich Chinese musical tradition," said Zane Fiala, Artistic Director of IOCSF. "We look forward to bringing both the most traditional and the most avant-garde of Chinese songs to life for our audience."
The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, recipient of the 2011 Chorus America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, is devoted to performing both established repertoire and newly commissioned works by promising composers. To date, IOCSF has premiered more than thirty works, including many from composers found within the ensemble and several that have subsequently been published by Santa Barbara Music, G. Schirmer and Hal Leonard.
Admission is free, although donations are welcome. For more information, visit https://www.iocsf.org.
read more
PROGRAM
Huang Ruo - In a Distant Sky (A World Premiere Commission)
Huang Ruo - Without Words
Chen Yi - Spring Dreams
Leong Yoon Pin - Dragon Dance
Shui Jiang Tian - Usuli Boat Song
Toh Ban Sheng - Lok Sui Tien
Xixian Qu - Pastoral
Zhou Long - Words of the Sun
Matt Boehler - Amen
Rhett Jarmillo - God Gazed Down on You
Nicholas Weininger - As kingfishers catch fire
OF NOTE
IOCSF's spring program is headlined by two minimalist works by noted modernist/minimalist composer Huang Ruo: his 2002 magnum opus "Without Words" and the newly composed "In a Distant Sky" commissioned by IOCSF. Ruo's sweeping, evocative, polyrhythmic and chromatic lines create waves and textures of sound that transport the audience into an ethereal, mind-expanding sonic world.
A selection of other Chinese and Chinese-American pieces on the program spotlights the wide range of styles and subjects of this rich compositional tradition. Zhou Long's "Words of the Sun" sets a naturalistic poem by 20th century poet Ai Qing, father of the famous contemporary artist Ai Weiwei. "Dragon Dance" by Leong Yoon Pin dramatizes a Singaporean version of the traditional Chinese New Year ceremony in which twenty dancers carry a "dragon" to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Xixian Qu's "Pastoral" is a wistful, longing arrangement of an Eastern Mongolian sheepherding song. Toh Ban Sheng's arrangement of "Lok Sui Tien" evokes a child's lament on a rainy day, while Shui Jiang Tian's "Usuli Boat Song" gives rousing life to a northeastern Chinese tale of bountiful fishing and industrious happiness. In a more modernist vein, Chen Yi's "Spring Dreams" uses contrasting rhythmic ostinati to suggest birds singing in a spring meadow and flower petals falling after a storm.
This season also continues IOCSF's annual Composer-in-Residence program. The 2015-2016 Composer-in-Residence is Nicholas Weininger, who has sung with IOCSF since 2007 and who has had several previous works premiered by IOCSF. For this season Weininger has composed "As kingfishers catch fire," a fast-paced, urgent, declamatory setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins' intricate sonnet reflecting on the ways in which all living things joyfully express their nature and emulate the divine.
"IOCSF is excited to be performing such a wide range of pieces from the rich Chinese musical tradition," said Zane Fiala, Artistic Director of IOCSF. "We look forward to bringing both the most traditional and the most avant-garde of Chinese songs to life for our audience."
The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, recipient of the 2011 Chorus America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, is devoted to performing both established repertoire and newly commissioned works by promising composers. To date, IOCSF has premiered more than thirty works, including many from composers found within the ensemble and several that have subsequently been published by Santa Barbara Music, G. Schirmer and Hal Leonard.
Admission is free, although donations are welcome. For more information, visit https://www.iocsf.org.
show less
Date/Times:
2220 Cedar St, Berkeley, CA 94709
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