A fairy, I met
Her name, forgotten
Yet remembered the three-color strips on her clothes
She took me to a wonderland, with
black white doves,
white cockroaches,
tailless dogs,
antler-bearing horses
“It’s fine.” said she
I reclined, rested
She called her fellows
Stripped me,
Spit guarded me,
Handcuffed me,
Charged me of my possessions
I struggled round-the-clock
“It’s for your own good.” they said
I fled
Yet they attacked me,
Seized me, then
Threw me into a chasm –
All at once, I wake up,
just a nightmare, I realized
By that time, the door opens
Her laughter, I heard –
Huddled up, I cry
(roughly translated from the Chinese version)
“Illusory Landscape” is a fantaisie-impromptu written for a mixed ensemble of qudi, erhu, zheng and piano. It is based on two fairy-related miniatures composed for the project. Musical features from the traditional genre like indefinite repeats of short melodic blocks, abrupt changes from one melodic block to another, and heterophonic writings are fused with various Western musical styles. Some traditional musical signals are also quoted in the piece.
WONG Chun-wai has a versatile composition profile comprising concert music, musicals and film scores. He often infuses different musical languages to evoke various atmospheres and sceneries, engaging audiences with a quasi-multimedia-art experience.
Published and winning multiple awards across the globe, his compositions are featured in international events such as the International Rostrum of Composers, ISCM World Music Days, ACL (Asian Composers League) Festival and the Asian Youth Orchestra World Tour. His music is performed and recorded by prominent groups and musicians including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (with Jaap van Zweden, Bright Sheng, Sebastian Perłowski and others), Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie (IEMA), performers from the New York Philharmonic and soloists including Dong-Suk Kang and Jan-Erik Gustafsson.
His scores for films and advertisements are featured in international festivals including the Sound and Image Challenge Festival and Pink City International Short Film Festival, as well as on local platforms including Cable TV and Viu TV.
Wong is also an active arranger. He has arranged a number of vocal and instrumental music, some of which are performed by renowned artists and singers such as Nick Vujicic, Rebecca Pan Di-hua and Harry Wong. Apart from his creative work, he also authors an online study journal for orchestration, Orchestration Masters (orchestrationmasters.wordpress.com).
The Gong Strikes One specializes in Chinese traditional theatre music, creating original works that preserve its musicality
and theatricality. The group embraces various performance settings, such as concerts, story-telling concerts, theatre and improvisation....more
Stirring Americana set to acoustic arrangements and topped by the legendary Alice Gerrard’s lovely, world-wise voice. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 23, 2023
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 15, 2024
Percussionist and sound artist Riccardo La Foresta joins musician and producer James Ginzburg for a fluid collaborative experiment. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 4, 2024
