In addition to our ongoing call for scores, we have a special call for scores for our concert in Winter of 2011:

The TaiHei Ensemble is proud to announce a call for scores for our concert on February 5th, 2011 featuring guest artist Rebecca Stuhlbarg.

Rebecca Stuhlbarg is a mezzo-soprano in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in contemporary music. She received her Masters in Vocal Performance from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2007 and has maintained an active teaching and performing schedule since graduation. In addition to performing as a guest artist and featured chorus member at Opera San Jose, Rebecca performs lead and secondary roles in smaller opera companies throughout the Bay Area. She has sung roles in contemporary operas such as The Medium and The Consul by Menotti, Street Scene by Weill, and The Crucible by Ward. Lead roles include Hansel from Hansel and Gretel and Lisa in The Cannabis Cantata. She has also been section leader and alto soloist in the choral ensemble Ariose for the last two years. Most recently Rebecca organized and performed in a recital in Santa Cruz featuring music by Amy Beach and operatic favorites. Rebecca also enjoys conducting, playing violin, doing yoga, and being a mom.

In this call for scores, we are looking for pieces for mezzo soprano that incorporate the TaiHei Ensemble’s theme of cross-cultural dialog in the Pacific Rim. The work may be for voice and any instrument or ensemble. Preference will be given to smaller groups and piano and voice. Pieces including electronics or for unaccompanied voice will also be considered.

The deadline for submission is November 1st, 2010.

For this call, we are only accepting electronic submissions. Please send the following to simon [at-sign] taiheiensemble [period] com:
-Your Bio (PDF or Word Document)
-Your score (PDF, and including any software or audio required for performance).
-Program notes for your piece (PDF or Word Document), including, if is not immediately apparent, how it relates to intercultural communication in the Pacific Rim
-A recording of your piece (mp3) if available

There is no fee for submission. Composers may send multiple works for consideration, but please send each submission in a separate eMail.

Check out our Media Page for recordings from our collaboration with Ensemble Sehamano last month. Most of these recordings are from our concert on May 5th. For the two electronic pieces, however, we had a rare opportunity to record our performers in the studio, so I’ve posted the studio versions of these pieces.

There are still two recordings coming, “Shades of Black” for viola and ajaeng, and “Heullim Garak” for chamber orchestra and electronics. Both of these pieces are by our guest composer, Young-Shin Choi, and we’re giving him a chance to evaluate and edit the recordings before we post them here.

All mp3s are now posted! Plus images!

Our collaborations with the Korean artists of Ensemble Sehamano on May 2nd in Beall Hall, and May 5th in Thelma Schnitzer Hall appear in this week’s Eugene Weekly

We’re very excited for our concert next month, “New Sounds of Korea,” working with Ensemble Sehamano to bring three guest artists to join us in performing transculural music featuring Korean traditional musical instruments. Ajeang player Hye Rim Choi and Yusun Kim will travel from Seoul, South Korea to premiere five new works with our ensemble, and we will conclude the performance with the premiere of Young-Shin Choi’s “Heullim Garak” for chamber ensemble and live electronics. Please join us on May 5th for this truly unique experience.

Program:
Young-Shin Choi – “Shades of Black” for Ajaeng and Viola
Chi Wang – “水调歌头 (Singing Water)” for Gayageum and Electronics
Mark Knippel – “Drops of Morning Fog Down Your Neck” for Gayageum and Ajaeng
Simon Hutchinson – “PulseStream” for Ajaeng and Electronics
Simon Hutchinson – “Diaspora” for Gayageum and Alto Sax
Young-Shin Choi – “Heullim Garak” for Chamber Orchestra and Live Electronics

Composer Young-Shin Choi

Gayageum Player Yusun Kim

Ajaeng Player Hye Rim Choi

Again, thanks to all of you for helping us make our Fall Concert a success! Special thanks to all of the performers and our composers, Jenifer Jaseau, Aaron Pergram, and Joel Ford for providing us with wonderful music to enact together.

We have posted the recording of the concert on our media page/

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to announce our concert program for February 21st. The show, “Occidental Voices”, will be a concert of pieces inspired by East Asian musical traditions and performed on Western instruments. Our program will be as follows:

Tsugaru Jinku – Japanese Traditional
arranged for flugelhorn and shamisen

Fireworks – Jenifer Jaseau
for mixed ensemble and electronic conductor

The Day of the Lotus Festival (premiere) – Aaron Pergram
for soprano saxophone and percussion quartet

Three Lights (premiere) – Joel Ford
for mixed ensemble

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for helping us make our Fall Concert a success. We’ve posted a number of mp3s from the show on the media page. You can play them on the page or right-click on the song titles to download them.

We’re preparing for our Winter concert on February 21st, but there’s still time to get us scores for consideration. Please see the details in our call for scores

After reviewing the scores we received, we decided that we would perform with a compact quartet this fall: shamisen, trumpet/percussion, sax/hulusi, and tuba. It should be an exciting and diverse show. We hope you can join us Friday, December 4th at 7:30PM at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance.

Tsugaru Jonkara Bushi – Japanese Traditional
for shamisen

Cloud Hidden Whereabouts Unknown – William Roper
for shamisen and tuba

Improvisation I – Ryo Noda
for saxophone

The Bumbling Fat Man Has His Day – Mark Knippel
for hulusi, shamisen, and percussion

The Apocalypse of Solomon – Daniel Schnee
for shamisen, tuba, trumpet, and saxophone.

We’re hoping to present a concert of all new works in the winter. Our call for scores is ongoing, but if you would like to be considered for our winter ’10 program, please send us your piece by January 4th, 2010.

Dear Friends,

Thank you all so much for your overwhelming response to our call for scores. We were thrilled by both the quantity and the quality of all of the pieces that we received.

Over the next few weeks we will make our decisions about which pieces to perform during our Fall 2009 season. Please remember that these decisions are influenced by a number of factors, and especially those of logistical issues of available performers.

Because of these factors, we would like to add all pieces submitted, regardless of whether or not we perform them this fall, to our library (unless you request otherwise), and your works will considered again at the start of each of our seasons.

Please remember our call for scores is ongoing, and we would like to encourage you all to continue to send us your new pieces.

Thank you again for giving us the chance to share your music,

-Simon

The TaiHei Ensemble is seeking new chamber works that explore ideas of cross-cultural communication in the Pacific Rim. Scores that include non-western instruments, especially shamisen, shakuhachi, taiko, and Javanese and Balinese Gamelan or their individual instruments are encouraged, as are pieces that include electronics or multimedia.

Western instruments may include all standard orchestral string, wind, keyboard, and percussion instruments as well as saxophone, guitar, and mandolin. Preference is for smaller ensembles (up to 5 or 6 players).

Selected pieces will be performed at one or more concerts in the TaiHei Ensemble’s regular performance season, and the composer will receive a recording of any performances.

Please send scores, with recordings (if available), composer bio, and program notes to:

TaiHei Ensemble Call for Scores
Attn: Simon Hutchinson
337 1/2 E 13th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

This call for scores is ongoing, but only pieces received by September 30st, 2009 can be considered for our fall concert program.

If you have any questions please send them to Simon Hutchinson at: simon [at-sign] taiheiensemble [period] com