Shadow of dew drops for piano trio

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on May 29, 2013Thesis advisorVitaThesis (M.M.)--Conservatory of Music and Dance. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2013Shadow of Dew Drops for violin, violoncello and piano was inspired by a poetry of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) "Xiao Chi - A little Pond" written by the famous poet Yang Wanli (1127-1206). This poetry depicts: the silent mouth of a spring "cherishes" the little streamlet and lets it flow quietly into the pond; the shadow of a tree flowing on the surface of the water, as though it has fallen in love with the soft sunshine; The pointed tip of a lotus sprout appears above the water, quickly, a dragonfly lands on it. In this poetry, the mouth of a spring, a little streamlet, the shade of a tree, a sprout of lotus and a lovely dragonfly, they all have lives and feelings just like human beings. The piano trio is a suitable instrumentation to represent this intimate and delicate writing style of this traditional Chinese poetry. Exploring fresh and lively sound effects to present this style become the goal of the piece. By using pizzicato followed by a glissando, fine harmonics of violin and cello, ornamentations and high repeated notes on piano, etc. to describe a lively picture of a little pond, show the harmonious and close relationship among natural things. The harmonic language of this piece is based on, but not limited to the Chinese pentatonic scales. The chord structures are complex because of the use of stacked seconds. Also, using different combinations of timbre and extended techniques (such as sul pont., sul tasto, harmonic, harmonic glissando, tremolo with glissando, glissando and pluck on piano internal strings, muted notes on piano, etc.) represent this exquisite artistic conception of the poetry.Abstract -- Score -- Vit

Seeing the music, hearing the drama : a multimedia suite (six pieces) for instrument(s) and electronics

Seeing the Music, Hearing the Dream is a forty-five minute multimedia suite consisting of six pieces written for various instruments and electronics, which consist of electronic sounds and video. The instrumentation includes solo cello, solo flute, solo piano, solo marimba, and flute and trombone duet. This suite is a compilation of multimedia works, all of which feature the connection and interaction between live instruments, electronic music, and visual art. The first chapter of this dissertation discusses the background and development of the multimedia performing arts field, as well as three different artists/groups and their works. The second chapter is a piece-by-piece analysis of the multimedia suite, complete with explanations of major motives, harmonic language, formal structure, and configuration of and relationships between audio and visual elements of the pieces.Musi

Doctoral thesis recital (composition)

textOn the threshold of a drizzly -- On the fringe of a whale's tail -- On the pivot of an abandoned carousel.Musi