KYLE WERNER

Three Sketches for Wind Quintet 

Three Sketches for Wind Quintet is my first work for this medium. Writing this set of short pieces was a fascinating challenge, in which I sought to explore the possibilities of the ensemble, while keeping in mind the individual expressive qualities of each instrument. The first piece focuses on an expansive melodic idea, presented first by the clarinet. The second piece involves a floating texture in which a few simple harmonies change colors as they are passed between the different instruments. The final piece creates an undulating texture which leads to a transformation of the first movement's theme. My initial inspiration for this work came from two paintings by L. A. Roberts - Valley Landscape and Yosemite Valley - which are on display at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Kyle Werner is a third-year undergraduate composition student at CCM, studying with Joel Hoffman. He was born in Orlando, Florida and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan when not at CCM. He has written several works for full orchestra, chamber orchestra, wind quintet, violin and piano, and choir. His works have been performed by the CCM Chamber Players, Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, Le Cinq de Lion wind quintet, members of the Music07 festival, and numerous CCM students. The CCM Philharmonia and the UC Choruses have also read his music. He is currently writing a flute concerto for his friend and fellow student Pethrus Gardborn. In addition to being a composer, Kyle is a classical guitarist, pianist, percussionist, and conductor.
  

 
NATALIE DRAPER

Trio 

Trio is a three-movement chamber piece. During the spring trimester of my junior year of college I studied abroad in Paris, where I lived with a host family. Being able to spend a lot of time with children was one of my favorite aspects of living in France. I am always amazed by the amount of energy that children have. I started writing this piece in the summer of 2006 with the third movement, "Bêtise," (which means "prank" or "foolishness"). I wanted the piece to have a whimsical feel that would reflect both my feelings towards my stay in Paris and the whimsical nature of children. This past summer I wrote the first and second movements, "Cache-Cache" and "Sieste," which mean "hide and seek" and "nap" respectively. The movements are also linked harmonically. The first and last movements are made up of the same scale, while the middle movement uses the five notes that the first scale omits.

Natalie Draper is currently working towards her Master of Music degree in composition at the University of Cincinnati (CCM). She received her undergraduate degree in music from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, studying under Phillip Rhodes and Mary Ellen Childs. Natalie has also spent the last two summers as a composition fellow at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina. While composition is her main interest, Natalie has studied piano since she was young, and is also very interested in music theory. She is currently studying with Michael Fiday.
  

 
HEEYOUNG YANG

Magnificat 


And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who hear him, form generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but He sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servants Israel, remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
(Luke 1:46-55)

Heeyoung Yang (b. Korea) began her studies in music composition with Eunyoung Kwak at Sunwha Art School in 1991 and earned her Bachelor's Degree from the Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. She holds a M.M. in composition from the graduate school of Yonsei University where she studies with Chan Hae Lee and from CCM where she studied with Joel Hoffman. Last summer (2007), she attended Aspen Music Festival and studied with George Tsontakis. "Magnificat" which is commissioned by AMFS was premiered in Harris Concert Hall in Aspen. It was also performed in Avner Ben-Gal's exhibition "Sudden Poverty" in Aspen Art Museum. She is also active in Christian choral music, offering various works to churches in Cincinnati and Indiana area, as well as in Korea. She is currently teaching theory and working toward her doctoral degree with Joel Hoffman at College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.
  

 
HSIN-LEI CHEN

Image, Mirage (2007) 
 

Hsin-Lei Chen (Taipei, Taiwan) received her Bachelor degree from National Taipei University of the Arts (NTUA) studying composition with Prof. Hung Chung-Kuen. She received a MMus in composition from the University of Cincinnati (CCM), working with Prof. Michael Fiday and Prof. Joel Hoffman. While still a student at NTUA and CCM, Chen composed numerous instrumental and vocal works for various ensembles, including a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Deep made finalist in the 2004 Formosa Competition held by the Council of Cultural Affairs in Taiwan. In 2007, her orchestral work, Ebb and Flow, won ERM Media's competition and recorded by Kiev Philharmonic. Chen is presently pursuing her DMA at CCM.
  

 
NEBOJSA MACURA

Farewell Before the Unknown 

Farewell Before the Unknown was composed for oboist Morgan Zentner, a former classmate at the University of British Columbia. Begun in May 2007, shortly after the end of my studies there, the work is a reflection of feelings experienced upon moving away from a place of residence - nostalgia for good times with friends and sadness at leaving them behind, but also the excitement and trepidation of starting life over in a new environment.

Nebojsa Macura was born in 1982 in Belgrade, Serbia, and immigrated to the United States in 1990. He holds a Master of Music from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ensembles that have performed his compositions include CCM Chamber Players, Turning Point Ensemble, and the University of Wisconsin Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. His music has been featured at Music07 (Cincinnati), Sonic Boom Festival (Vancouver, Canada), the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Jean Coulthard Readings, and the Eine Kleine Lunch Musik concert series at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Currently, Macura is pursuing a DMA at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Joel Hoffman.
  

 
WENHUI XIE

Space for prepared piano 

I want to bring the audience into my music and give them space to think and imagine. It's more like an "Open-ended Musical Question". It depends on how the audience develops its concepts. For instance, the traditional Chinese ink painting emphasizes more space. It always uses lines or points and space to express an idea. The perspective of Chinese ink is different from western painting. I love that space, for it is not just empty or simple space but in fact a profound form.

The special materials are used in the piano, such as screw, latex tubing, silicone tubing, plastic foam pad and "durapore" tape.

Wenhui Xie is one of the emerging young composers from Beijing, China. Her works have been awarded prizes in several competitions and performed at concerts in China, the United States and Europe. Recently, Wenhui's work Space-for prepared piano was awarded a prize at the 2007 Palatino Awards in China and chosen for the 2008 Beijing International Congress on Women in Music. Her work Piano Concerto was awarded a prize at the Vienna-Chinese New Year Concert, and A Ballad of Lovesickness for a cappella was awarded a prize at the Chicago Great Wall Composition Competition in 2006. Wenhui received a Masters Degree at the China Conservatory of Music. At present, she is pursuing a Doctors Degree at the University of Cincinnati (CCM). She studies composition with professors Shi Wan-Chun, Joel Hoffman and Michael Fiday.
  

 
RYAN PRATT

From the New Environment 

I composed From the New Environment after writing another piece called New Environment - for large chamber ensemble. From the New Environment uses some of the material from New Environment and also develops new material in the same vein as the previous work. I wanted to work with the same material because I knew it would take some time to get a reading of the larger piece. Since I never initially write at the piano and then orchestrate my ideas, it was difficult to rethink this composition in terms of the piano. I found that by working with only small motives from New Environment, I could eventually redevelop them into five movements for the piano. The first two movements include material, which is most clearly related to New Environment.

Ryan Pratt is currently finishing his Bachelors degree at CCM and has studied with Joel Hoffman, Michael Fiday, and Mara Helmuth. In the summer of 2005 he traveled to Hvar, Croatia and participated in a composition/improvisation course as part of the UpBeat program on the island. In the summer of 2006, the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Chertock, performed his orchestral work "Natural Surroundings". His latest orchestral work "Quatre Horizons" - for orchestra and tape was chosen as an alternate/runner-up in the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute competition, directed by Aaron Jay Kernis. This past summer, Pratt traveled to France to study with Fracois Paris, Allain Gaussin, and Isabelle Duha in Fontainebleau.
  

 
CHARLOTTE SYLVESTER

A Disquieted Existence 

A Disquieted Existence titles this piece as a story evolves from human existence. Each movement represents a state of being. The story is derived from the book, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera. The first and third movements are duets while the second and fourth include the entire trio.

"Awakening" begins simply with the cello and piano separately and takes a few melodic thoughts to arouse to full consciousness. The "confession of reality" happens in the blink of an eye as the tempo dramatically changes. In a mysterious setting, this short movement allows the trio to combine in fragmented figures and surprising dynamic contrasts. "Perplexity of the mind" involves the clarinet and piano playing in discussion of this new reality. Interpolating into a mental state of anxiety, "a restless forever" begins with each instrument entering at a designated time in an expressive manner at an unhurried pace. The piece ascends and plateaus fervently until one final collapse into complete atonality, which can be in itself, a restless forever.

Charlotte Sylvester is in her first year of the MM composition program at CCM studying under Joel Hoffman and Mara Helmuth. She received her BM in composition under Craig Weston and piano performance under Slawomir Dobrzanski at Kansas State University. Charlotte is also an established organist having studied under Mary Ellen Sutton.
  

 
WONHEE SHIN

There is Him 

There is Him is dedicated to Him, and describes my reflection about Him and the text which is based on Psalm chapter 22 and Revelation chapter 1. There is the one who struggle to his God because people mock the one and hurl insults. However the one always believes that God will come to save him from them. Finally, the glorious God comes.

Currently enrolled in doctoral program at University of Cincinnati, Wonhee Shin was born in Seoul, Korea. She started to play the piano at age 7. In 1997, she entered the Sungshin Women's University and received her Bachelor's Degree at composition in 2000. For her senior recital, she played her piece by herself. After graduating, Wonhee worked in music publishing as an editor. She awards numerous composition competitions including ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer award, finalist of the composer in residence of Young Artist Concert, and Contemporary Music Society of Seoul student competition. She was a teaching assistant of Sungshin Women's University electronic studio. Her pieces are performed world widely including USA, Asia, and Europe, and by world famous performers like Laszlo Mezo (Bartok Quartet cellist). Also, her pieces are performed at several music festival including musicX, Aspen music festival, Hvar international summer festiva. She received her Master degree at University of Cincinnati. She studies piano with Di Zhu and Eliana Murphy, organ with Wehichun Liano, and composition with Joel Hoffman, Michael Fiday, and Mara Helmuth.