Postcard (2022)

From the premiere performance at the Kaufman Music Center (New York) on December 2, 2022. Photos by Juan Carlos.

Preface

Postcard is a piece for an open-ended ensemble and digital playback. The commission was sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York for Hong Kong Journeys, a concert on December 2, 2022, at Merkin Music Hall that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the HKSAR.

Postcard combines recorded birdsongs from Hong Kong in the fall of 2022 with musical gestures inspired by the birdsongs. While residents and visitors know Hong Kong as a modern metropolis, even among the city’s massive towers and neon lights, nature continues to thrive. Postcard invites listeners to explore this side of Hong Kong which can be so easily missed in the day-to-day, hustle-and-bustle of city life.

Heard

• December 2, 2022: Kaufman Music Center (New York, NY). Yang Yi, guzheng; Graeme Steele Johnson, clarinet; Ben Larsen, cello; Alex Wyatt, percussion.