Performers(‘) Present International Artistic Research Symposium: Reflections

Art of War

I attended The Art of War – Final Chapter performance and it was an interesting experience. 

Calista focused primarily on exploring themes surrounding Sun Tzu’s philosophies from 孙子兵法, which she relates back to her personal journey with the arts and experiences in her life through the fusion of Chinese chamber music, contemporary composition, dance and fashion. The fact that Calista chose to commission four new pieces for traditional Chinese instruments instead of performing existing repertoire shows that she wants to present Chinese music in a new light. Newly commissioned pieces also convey her wanting to set herself apart from other Chinese musicians as part of the new generation who is willing to explore new possibilities of Chinese music. Viewing it through a Romantic lens which I learned in Critical Approaches to Music Discovery, Calista is showing the audience her unique worldview through her production, relating to the Romantic ideal of focusing on the individual. Just like the man on the mountain, she is showing the audience her unique perspectives. 

I believe that Calista is trying to break the stereotypes audiences may have about Chinese instrumental music, which is thought to be quite serious and follows traditions closely, hence, there is usually not much room for creative freedom. However, the commissioned pieces showcase that there is also a place for Chinese instruments in contemporary music, and they can play much more than just their traditional roles in an ensemble. In a composition seminar with Wong De Li, who was also the conductor of this performance, he shared with us that while it is acceptable to write contemporary music for Chinese instruments, it is important to respect the traditions and the history of the instruments when using them in a contemporary music setting. I believe this is true for the use of any ethnic instruments. While composers may be focused on the type of sound they want to achieve through their compositions, we must compose with the awareness of the roles these instruments play in their original contexts before we give them new functions in the music of a different genre. 

Calista featured Chinese dancers in her performance, who performed their interpretations of small sections of each piece. While the dancers danced beautifully, I wonder if the experience of the concert would have been different if the dancers were not present. To me, the dancers took attention away from the music and the performance decisions which were happening on stage. For an audience who may be listening to contemporary Chinese music for the first time, the addition of dance in a production where visuals played a substantial role – from the incorporation of different stage lights, videos and graphics – may be overstimulating and cause the audience to lose focus of the music, which I feel should have been at the core of her production. Although I personally was not satisfied with this decision, it is becoming very common for composers to integrate visual elements during the presentation of their compositions. I might consider exploring this in my own concerts, for me to learn more about my aesthetic inclinations.

A Creation

I presented on “A Creation”, a sound installation put up by the Composition Department as part of YST’s 20th Anniversary Gala concert, where the Orchestral Institute put up a performance of Haydn’s “The Creation”. 

An important concept we wanted to convey to the audience was diversity in creation. During the initial stages of the project, we explored what creation meant to each of us. We selected different sound materials that we wanted to feature in the soundscape. Due to our different backgrounds, influences and interests, the music we ended up creating and our thought processes were also unique to our individual experiences. We also had different physical methods of making music, such as using different software to process our sounds. This diversity is at the core of our project because we wanted to include as many inspirations as we could while adhering to the theme of “A Creation”. This was similar to my experience during the First Year Creative Project, where we brought our different ideas together to create a single coherent musical performance. Collaboration is something that we as composers do not get to experience often due to the nature of our art, however, through these projects, I have become more interested in co-creating a production or musical work with other people. Through discussions and bouncing ideas off each other, I believe we can be inspired and thus create something even better.

We hoped to change the stereotypical thinking of audiences that music must be made of pitches and consonant harmony. We manipulated and processed many raw sounds from our everyday lives, such as the call of a rooster, sounds of typing on a keyboard, and even speech; all of which became parts of the soundscape. Although they are not typical sounds that one might expect to find in a musical piece, we hoped to provide a contrast to the very classical Hadyn performance and encourage audiences to accept this too as music. Something that I often hear during Composition lessons is that “music is simply made out of sound and energy”. Anything is capable of becoming material we can compose with, and by extension, anything can be music. We hope that audiences can become more open-minded to appreciate different types of music. 

On the other hand, I would also challenge the location of the setup. I agree that a sound installation should not attract too much attention, however, the choice of location is still important. During the Gala concert in April, the installation was placed in the foyer where the audience could gather and talk before and after performances, so you could not hear the installation very clearly over the sounds of conversations. I was a little disappointed by that as we had put in a lot of effort but the audience was not able to experience it fully. I appreciated that during the symposium, the installation was set up in SR4 where the audience could take their time to listen to the full cycle. However, I also think that it could have been similarly featured during the Gala concert like the sound installation that was played in the concert hall before the Southeast Asia Golden Age symphony. In the concert hall, it was heard audibly in the background but did not demand the full attention of the audience. This effect would have benefited the reception of our “A Creation” sound installation during the Gala concert as well so that the audience could be aware of our work.