Date: Friday, February 9, 2024
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm, Doors open at 3:30pm
Location: Lincoln Hall Room 75
The Institute for Asian Studies is delighted to showcase contemporary Chinese composers through the performance of Susan Chan, Professor Emeritus, Music & Theater, Portland State University! Learn more about the Institute and our student scholarship or sign up for our quarterly newsletter!
About the lecture: In this lecture recital several new piano pieces by award-winning contemporary Chinese composers are introduced and performed, with accompanying PowerPoint images displayed. Zhang Zhao employs folk materials from his native Yunnan Province. His Hani Love Song (2009) and Numa Ame (The Most Beautiful Home, 2017) contain lyrical melodies, lively dance rhythms and expansive textures. Small Beautiful Things (2016) by Canadian-born composer Alexina Louie is a set of miniature pieces expressing nature and daily life. The pieces contain subtle Asian elements and are filled with childlike innocence. Chinese-born American composer Lei Liang uses scientific research and Chinese philosophy in his music. Tian and Pausing, Awaiting the Wind to Rise... from his set My Windows (2007) imitate quqin playing and are highly meditative. Only for Love is the last movement of the Piano Sonata (2018) by Chinese-born American composer Tan Dun. The passionate main theme from the film The Banquet is filled with longing and sorrow. The performer hopes that such fine repertoire will be disseminated and enjoyed widely.
About the Speaker: The New York Concert Review described Susan Chan as “a thoughtful musician and a sensitive player.” She has performed, taught and adjudicated on four continents. She received “Special Citation for Championing Piano Music by Asian Composers” in the 2015 American Prize competition and was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship by the Oregon Arts Commission. Her critically acclaimed CDs include Echoes of China: Contemporary Piano Music (Naxos) and East West Encounter I and II (MSR Classics). She holds a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University and serves as Professor of Music as well as Founder and Director of the PSU Steinway Piano Series at Portland State University (susanchanpiano.com).