Every year, folks in the Asian community around the globe come together to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
As part of the celebration, Michigan State University’s College of Music is hosting a special concert Saturday featuring works by composers of Asian heritage.
MSU assistant professor of violin Yvonne Lam is the founder of the Lunar New Year Concert Series. She spoke with WKAR’s Megan Schellong to preview the performance.
The Lunar New Year Concert is Saturday Jan. 21, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. in MSU's Cook Recital Hall. Doors open at 2:30 p.m.
Interview Highlights
On why she started the Lunar New Year Concert Series
Yeah, well, you know, growing up studying violin, classical violin, with my Russian teachers, who were wonderful, I never encountered any music by an Asian composer. And I would say probably all the way up until college. And once I did, I really felt like I was afraid to play it for fear that people wouldn't take me seriously because it wasn't music that I saw performed on stage by musicians of import. And I want to remedy that situation.
On why she chose to highlight these three pieces: Sarahal, And I Knew 'Twas The Night, and New Stories
I think that I chose these three works to share with you today because I think they show the incredible diversity of music that's being written today. We have music that has an electronic component to it. That's processing live sound. And we have a piece that was inspired by Debussy’s trio. And we have a piece that was inspired by the composer's life story.
On why she’s highlighting Dorothy Chang’s New Stories
Hearing Dorothy Chang talk about her influences for this piece. It really was her family and her life and her history growing up as a Chinese American and the feeling of not quite ever fitting in and always searching for an identity, that really resonated with me. And the marriage, this piece sort of represents the synthesis of all of her influences, Eastern and Western. And it was a way for her to sort of, I think, reconcile those stories.
Interview Transcript
Megan Schellong: Yvonne, this will be the second year that the Lunar New Year concert series is running. Tell us what inspired you to bring this performance to MSU's College of Music.
Yvonne Lam: Yeah, well, you know, growing up studying violin, classical violin, with my Russian teachers, who were wonderful, I never encountered any music by an Asian composer. And I would say probably all the way up until college. And once I did, I really felt like I was afraid to play it for fear that people wouldn't take me seriously because it wasn't music that I saw performed on stage by musicians of import. And I want to remedy that situation. Because there is such great music out there now and their music is absolutely worthy of being onstage and being played by the best musicians. And so that's what this concert series is all about.
Schellong: You’ve brought along three pieces that you’re going to share with us. Tell us about the over-arching theme of these three works.
Lam: I think that I chose these three works to share with you today because I think they show the incredible diversity of music that's being written today. We have music that has an electronic component to it, that's processing live sound. And we have a piece that was inspired by Debussy’s trio. And we have a piece that was inspired by the composer's life story. And I think that it's just, it's a wide variety.
Schellong: Alright, so let’s get into it. The first piece we’ll hear is Sarahal by Mari Kimura.
Clip of "Sarahal" by Mari Kimura plays
Schellong: So Yvonne, what is happening in Sarahal here?
Lam: Well believe it or not, you're only hearing one performer. And Mari Kimura has written a computer program, a software, that takes the input from one violinist and transforms it into what you hear. And it's processing the input live. And this piece is actually written for two violinists. And I'm playing it with my very good friend, Sarah Plum, for whom the piece was written. And that's why it's called Sarahal, because the other person she originally premiered the piece with was named Hal. And so I think it's really special when you have pieces that were written for specific people to hear those people perform the pieces for you.
Schellong: The second piece we’ll listen to is And I Knew ‘Twas Wind by Toru Takemitsu.
Clip of "And I Knew 'Twas Wind" by Toru Takemitsu plays
Schellong: Tell us what was the inspiration behind selecting this piece.
Lam: Well, Takemitsu is really well known nowadays and very well, very revered composer. And this piece was inspired by Debussy’s piece for the same instrumentations, a very enchanting sound of harp, flute, and viola, as you can see, and there's actually a direct quote in the piece of the Debussy, of the original Debussy, but I just, I think Takemitsu’s music is just bewitching. And, you know, he himself called himself a gardener of music. And that music is his garden, and he's the gardener. And it's just such beautiful music and people should hear that too.
Schellong: I’m definitely picking up on those feelings of enchantment with the strings in that one. For this last piece that you're sharing with us, you’ve chosen Dorothy Chang’s New Stories. Let's take a listen.
Clip of Dorothy Chang’s “New Stories" plays
Schellong: So this one I’m noticing has saxophone, tell us why you chose this piece.
Lam: Hearing Dorothy Chang talk about her influences for this piece. It really was her family and her life and her history growing up as a Chinese American and the feeling of not quite ever fitting in and always searching for an identity, that really resonated with me. And the marriage, this piece sort of represents the synthesis of all of her influences, Eastern and Western. And it was a way for her to sort of, I think, reconcile those stories.
Schellong: Yvonne Lam is an assistant professor of violin at Michigan State University. Thanks for your time.
Lam: Thank you so much for having me.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Music credits:
Sarahal by Mari Kimura (2016)
Duration: 7 min 6 sec
And I Knew ‘Twas Wind (2008)
Composed by Toru Takemitsu
Yolanda Kondonassis
Joshua Smith
Cynthia Phelps
Duration: 12 min 32 sec
New Stories for alto saxophone and piano by Dorothy Chang (2013)
Duration: 16 min