On September 25, Naxos is releasing Dreamscapes, an album of works by Metropolis composer Vivian Fung, performed by violinist Kristin Lee, pianist Conor Hanick, and the Metropolis Ensemble. I called up Vivian to chat about the upcoming CD release, her recent Guggenheim Award, and other topics that came up along the way. Here’s a transcript of our conversation.

CAC: Last September, we talked about the intense week of recording that led up to the premiere of your Violin Concerto with Kristin Lee at Renderings. Now that everything’s settled down, do you have any comments on the whole experience in retrospect?

VF: The premiere was fantastic, and for me it was really meaningful because of the forging of relationships with Conor and Kristin. I’ve since composed another piece for Conor and Kristin called Birdsong for Violin and Piano. Kristin and I are also talking about other projects, and there are plans for other performances of the Violin Concerto in different cities in 2013-14.

From the piano and violin concerti, I’ve come to really appreciate the dynamic of collaborating with a performer—not only just handing over the score to the someone, but really writing a piece for a performer. It’s a special synergy, you’re getting behind the performer and the energy that the performer brings to his or her playing. From there, I build a piece with that in mind, and the piece winds up being tailor-made for those performers. I really cherish those projects when they occur.

CAC: How did you wind up choosing these pieces—the Violin Concerto, Glimpses, and Dreamscapes—to go on the CD?

VF: I met Andrew about five years ago and we started talking about doing a project together, and what came first was the Dreamscapes Piano Concerto. During rehearsal, Kristin, who was the concertmaster of Metropolis during that time, came up to me and said, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a piece for me?” Then it coalesced and a few years later, the Violin Concerto happened.

The actual timing of the two concerti was a bit under to make an album, so that’s where Glimpses came in. Glimpses is a work for prepared piano whose first movement “Kotekan” inspired material for the piano concerto. Jenny Lin, the pianist who premiered Glimpses, suggested that I make it longer. So I got to thinking about that, and it worked out that the Piano Concerto was an ideal project to develop that initial seed.

When it came to the ordering, it was a natural fit for the Violin Concerto to go first, and then Glimpses, which is a snapshot of what will come in the Piano Concerto, which ends the CD.

CAC: So what else is coming up for you and Metropolis?

VF: Metropolis is doing a concert in October [Music for Voice] of a work by Berlioz called Les nuits d'été (The Summer Nights). Andrew has asked me to do an arrangement of that piece for Metropolis.

CAC: What projects are you working on for the Guggenheim? [Note: Vivian was just selected to be a 2012 Guggenheim fellow, among 10 other composers.]

VF: I did a project called Yunnan Folk Songs in 2011 with a new music ensemble in Chicago—I chose folk songs from minority regions of Yunnan province that are not ethnically related to China at all, and then did re-compositions of those songs. I was fascinated by recordings that I got from a professor at the Yunnan Art Institute, so I went there to work with him in March for three weeks. We went on a road trip to visit some of the minority groups in remote regions deep in the mountains, got to know some of the groups, and recorded them singing and dancing for us. I want to go back and do more of that fieldwork with the idea in 5 or 10 years of turning that material into an opera.

CAC: As an Asian-American speaking to an Asian-Canadian, I’m interested in your ability to embrace this distinct Asian voice as a composer, since I know it can be a real struggle to identify strongly with one culture or another for those of us who grow up outside of the “Motherland.”

As the Asian sound is such an important element of your music, how do you reconcile this cultural identity problem?

VF: When I went to China, it was kind of strange; the professor introduced me to the villagers, and they did a double take because they couldn’t understand—‘Americans are supposed to by blond and white, you look Chinese.’ For them to see someone who looks like one of them but doesn’t relate culturally to them at all was very strange.

In some ways, it’s like you don’t belong anywhere, but then in others, it’s very freeing. You can choose the identity that you associate with or that inspires you. It’s positive in the sense that I can go in and take what I need, and then keep a certain distance from it so I have a different perspective. For our generation, it’s very much a part of us—where do we fit in, where do we belong. There’s not an easy answer, but through my work, it really does bring up a lot, and I can address it in my music in a more complete way.

CAC: Do you see your career continuing on this “Asian” trajectory?

I try not to have this become a cliché. Ultimately, it has to be natural, it has to ignite that inspiration and creative process. If I’m not drawn to it, then it doesn’t matter if it’s Asian. Of course, the Asian sensibility is part of my DNA, so it goes hand in hand. But that’s not to say that I just seek out whatever’ s Asian, because that just becomes artificial.

If you listen to my music, it’s not overtly Asian because of the fact that I grew up here. It’s a very different aesthetic than someone who grew up in Asia—he or she would have a very different take on the Asian aesthetic and what that music sounds like. So in that sense, what does it mean to be Asian and have something be inspired by Asian music? There isn’t really a simple answer.

Many thanks to Vivian Fung for sharing her thoughts with us. Metropolis is having a CD release concert for her new album, Dreamscapes, at the Americas Society on October 1.

Also, look out for our Music for Voice concert at (Le) Poisson Rouge on October 23 and 24, where Metropolis Ensemble will perform another Vivian Fung premiere.