Composer Vivian Fung created this Spotify playlist, including Violin Concerto from our studio album, Dreamscapes, performed by violinist Kristin Lee.
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Kristin Lee
Theremin and violin will take the stage together at the new music venue National Sawdust with Jakub Ciupinski and Kristin Lee.
Classical Composition of the Year for “Violin Concerto” commissioned, performed, and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced today that Edmonton-born composer Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto is the winner of the 2013 Juno Award for “Classical Composition of the Year.”
The concerto was released on the new studio album Dreamscapes featuring soloist Kristin Lee and “played with precision and heart by the Metropolis Ensemble” (NPR). Dreamscapes is the first release on the Naxos Canadian Classics label. Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto and Piano Concerto were both commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble and recorded at Tanglewood in 2011.
Many thanks are in order for the entire team, board of directors, and most especially Paul and Libby De Rosa for their vision and generosity in supporting the commissioning of the Violin Concerto as well as the recording of this album; Kristin Lee, solo violinist; our engineer/producer Tim Martyn at Phoenix Audio; all the Metropolis Ensemble artists appearing on the album; and Raymond Bisha and the Naxos label.
Metropolis Artists appearing on Dreamscapes:
Lance Suzuki, Flute; James Austin Smith, Oboe; Carlos Cordeiro, Clarinet; Adrian Morejon, Bassoon; Danielle Rose Kuhlmann, Horn; Paul Murphy, Trumpet; Britton Matthews, Percussion; Sean Statser, Percussion; Bridget Kibbey, Harp; Violin: Owen Dalby, Amalia Hall, Sheryl Hwangbo, Emilie-Anne Gendron, Siwoo Kim, Kristin Lee, Sean Lee (Concertmaster), Miho Saegusa, Emily Smith, Elly Suh, Emma Sutton, Tema Watstein; Viola: Dave Auerbach, Phil Kramp, Eric Nowlin; Cello: Na-Young Baek, Ashley Bathgate, Hiro Matsuo; Bass:Rachel Calin
Andrew Cyr, Artistic Director/Conductor
Listen to the album and explore more about Vivian Fung.
At every point in the disc, Fung has a strong sense of thematic control and structural overview that suggests more great things to come.
Joshua Kosman from the San Francisco Chronicle hails the new Metropolis Ensemble album, Dreamscapes, and its “welcome lyricism and grace.” Here’s an excerpt from his review:
“The year-old Violin Concerto that leads off the disc boasts a certain winsome charm, especially in the fluid performance of soloist Kristin Lee….the final Piano Concerto, in a powerhouse rendition featuring soloist Conor Hanick. Here at last is music of dramatic urgency and depth, in which Fung draws on ideas from gamelan while also adding plenty of her own original material – clangorous, dissonant harmonies, off-kilter rhythms and a sense of wild unpredictability.”
Here at last is music of dramatic urgency and depth, in which Fung draws on ideas from gamelan while also adding plenty of her own original material - clangorous, dissonant harmonies, off-kilter rhythms and a sense of wild unpredictability.
Chatting with composer Vivian Fung about her upcoming studio release with Metropolis Ensemble and finding her voice in the creative process.
Bach and Ryan Francis: Sillage from Metropolis Ensemble on Vimeo.
Bach and Ryan Francis: Sillage, featuring Kristin Lee on violin and Conor Hanick on piano. Performed on February 14, 2010 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. This was part of Love Letter to Haiti, a Valentine’s Day benefit concert for Partners in Health, organized by Metropolis Ensemble and artistic director Andrew Cyr. Video by Gareth Paul Cox and Kyrie Cox; sound by Ryan Streber.
[caption id=“attachment_724” align=“alignright” width=“300” caption=“Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall”][/caption] Big news: Metropolis Ensemble is releasing two new albums—one for Nonesuch featuring works by Timothy Andres, and the other for Naxos with works by Vivian Fung. Both composers were presented in Metropolis’s latest Renderings concert at the Angel Orensanz Center on September 15. Musicians got together for an intensive week of rehearsals, followed by a weeklong recording marathon at the Tanglewood studios in Massachusetts. Timo played piano for his own pieces: Homestretch (concerto for piano and small orchestra), Paraphrase on Themes by Brian Eno (for chamber orchestra), and Piano Concerto No. 26, “Coronation” (an adaptation of Mozart’s incomplete concerto). Vivian’s pieces—Dreamscapes (for prepared piano and orchestra), Violin Concerto, and Glimpes (for solo prepared piano)—were performed by soloists Conor Hanick on piano, and Kristin Lee on violin. There are some pretty obvious factors that make recording sessions different from rehearsals and performances, but not all in ways that you might expect. Timo explains:
“Most of my job as composer was accomplished during rehearsals, where I talked about interpretation and mood. The recording session was about the fine details: balance, intonation, tempo. One thing that happens when you have different takes is you wind up with different tempos. It requires a level of precision that I find to be great for musicianship.”
Vivian had a much different rehearsal and recording experience than Timo, as she was hearing her pieces for the first time being played by musicians. “We were figuring out the kinks during rehearsal, like the tricky spots, tempo changes, coordination of Kristin’s part with everyone else,” Vivian explains. “It’s hard when you’re rehearsing the piece for the first time to get a handle on what it sounds like. You have to get familiar with the sound world.” During the recording process, Vivian was sitting in the control room making notes on what needed to be worked on, adjustments to the dynamics, marking which takes were best; she even rewrote orchestra parts to make some transitions smoother. Vivian remarks, “It would be different if it were for a performance, but this was going to be etched in a recording forever! I wanted it to sound exactly how I meant for it to be.” The whole process was a unique experience for the musicians to have the composers present for the rehearsals and recording session, offering minute-to-minute feedback and adjusting the piece as they played. Conor, who performed solo piano on Vivian’s
Dreamscapes
and
Glimpses
, commented on the experience:
“While we were rehearsing, Vivian sat next to me and wrote notes and suggestions. You definitely can’t cut any corners when a composer’s sitting next to you! It definitely ups the ante for playing the music as accurately and brilliantly as possible.”
Kristin, who played both the solo part of Vivian’s
Violin Concerto
and the orchestra part in other pieces, had to pace herself during the intense week. She compares her approach to the recording sessions and performance, which took place one week later:
“During the recording session, the priority was clarity of tone, exaggerated dynamics, clean playing—it was very focused on the technical aspects. The performance was more musical. I let loose and had a good time. I didn’t necessarily care if I missed a note, I really went over the top and was much more flexible with my interpretation.”
Despite the stressful rehearsal and recording process, Kristin comes out of it asserting, “It was really more fun than anything.” Conor also agrees that despite the grueling 9-hour recording sessions everyday, the group had an amazing time:
“The group was so positive and supportive that any time the attention span or enthusiasm dipped, there were people that brought us back. This was the smoothest sailing recording I’ve ever experience—it had a lot to do with Andrew Cyr being so organized, calm, levelheaded, and precise about what he wanted.”
The musicians and composers all agree that it was an exhausting, but totally rewarding process; Vivian shares a final reflection on the experience:
“I felt so good about the whole process because everyone was so invested in the project. For me, the pieces took on a life of their own; Conor and Kristin really owned the pieces. It’s like giving birth to a baby—it’s something that’s yours that grows into something that you share with other musicians.”
Be on the lookout for these two new Metropolis albums in 2012!
Recapping the world premiere performances from Metropolis resident composers Timothy Andres, Vivian Fung, and Ray Lustig.
“My goal as a performer is to bring across the exact replica of the composer’s vision… in full understanding of the music.”
Ilona Oltuski talked with composer Vivian Fung about her work in gamelan and new music for Sequenza 21, including her new Violin Concerto.
“I invited Andrew Cyr to join me and we both were blown away by her performance. Andrew invited Kristin to join the Metropolis Ensemble, where she also became the concertmaster for the performance of my Piano Concerto in 2009. She loved it, enough so, that she sent me an email after a rehearsal and asked me to write a violin concerto for her. The relationship I have fostered with Kristin resulted also in her accompanying me to Bali, this past summer of 2010, while I was touring with Gamelan Dharmaswana, in residence here at the New York Indonesian Consulate. The trip made our musical friendship grow deeper. The cadenza was a collaborative effort, it will be a tour de force,” says Fung”, as she invites me to preview the performance of mentioned cadenza, at its inaugural benefit performance at Riverpark, with the Metropolis Ensemble on March 8th, 2011. The world premiere of the violin concerto in its entirety is planned for sometime in the fall of 2011.