Huang Ruo’s Future in REverse (FIRE)

Three Pieces for Piano          (1999-2005) 

Stephen Buck, Piano  

Tree Without Wind                      (2004) 

Stephen Buck, Piano  

Four Fragments                    (2006) 

Judy Kang, Violin 

Five Lights, Ten Colors        (2008) 

Stephen Buck, Piano  

String Quartet No.1: The Three Tenses      (2005) 

Judy Kang, Violin I, Aaron Boyd, Violin II

Erin Wight, Viola, Charles Tyler, Cello 

About the Composer: 

Huang Ruo  (Composer & Conductor)

Recently awarded both the First Prize and the Audience Award from the prestigious Luxembourg International Composition Prize 2008, Huang Ruo is Hailed by the New Yorker as “one of the most intriguing of the new crop of Asian-American composers.”  Hailed by the New Yorker as “one of the most intriguing of the new crop of Asian-American composers,” Huang Ruo’s music has been premiered and performed by, among others, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Asko Ensemble, the Nieuw Ensemble, the Dutch Vocal Laboratory, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, under conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch, James Conlon, Dennis Russell Davies, Ed Spanjaard, and Ilan Volkov. In 2003, Miller Theatre featured him on its Composer Portraits series.  New York Times critic Allan Kozinn hailed the concert as the second on the list of his “Top Ten Classical Moments of 2003.” In February 2007, Naxos Records released his Chamber Concerto Cycle on its acclaimed American Classics series, and his orchestral lyric Leaving Sao was released on Albany Records in 2008. Planned CD releases include Divergence on Koch Records and The Three Tenses on Summit Records.  His future commissions and premieres include chamber concerto MO for the Luxembourg Sinfonietta (Luxembourg), a chamber opera for the Dutch Vocal Laboratory (Netherlands), String quartet No.2 for the Carducci Quartet (Great Britain), and String Quartet No.3 for the Quartuor Diotima (France), chamber works for UMS ´N JIP (Switzerland), the Continuum Ensemble, Camerata Pacifica, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, and a documentary film sound tracks for the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA).  Huang Ruo’s past film credits include sound tracks to the films Jian-Fu Garden as well as Stand Up.  His works are published by the Huang Ruo Publishing and Recording Company, which he founded in 2000. Also noted as an author, he published Selection of Classic Chinese Folk Songs (Zhong Shan University Press). In 2006, the National Committee on United States–China Relations selected him as a Young Leader Fellow.  Huang Ruo was born in Hainan Island, China, in 1976, the year the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended. His father, who is a well-known composer in China, began teaching him composition and piano when he was six years old. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, when China was steadily opening up its gates to the Western world, he received both traditional and Western education at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He was admitted into its composition program, studying with Deng Erbo when he turned twelve. As a result of the dramatic cultural and economic changes in China following the Cultural Revolution, his education expanded from Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Lutoslawski to include the Beatles, rock and roll, heavy metal, and jazz. Huang Ruo was able to absorb all of these newly allowed Western influences without inhibiting factors. As a member of the new generation of Chinese composers, he clearly knows that his goal and task is not just to simply mix both Western and Eastern elements, but to go beyond that to create a seamless synthesis and a convincing organic unity, drawing influences from various genres and cultures. After winning the Henry Mancini Award at the 1995 International Film and Music Festival in Switzerland, he moved to the United States to further his education. Since then, he has earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from the Juilliard School. His composition teachers have included Randolph Coleman and Samuel Adler. Huang Ruo is currently a member of the composition faculty at SUNY Purchase. For more information about Huang Ruo, please visit his website at www.huangruo.com.  

About the Performers: 

Future In REverse (FIRE)  

Future In REverse (FIRE) is dedicated to the future of music. Specializing in multi-media and cross-genre projects, FIRE is widely praised for its innovative programming and performances. Founded in 2005 by composer and conductor Huang Ruo, FIRE has performed at Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center, Rubin Museum of Arts, Aspen Summer Music Festival, and the Greenwich Music Festival. FIRE’s diverse collaborations include visual music with kinetic painter Norman Perryman and ballets with choreographers James Sewell from the James Sewell Ballet and Charlotte Griffin from the New York Choreographic Institute. In 2008, FIRE recorded sound tracks for two films (Emperor’s New Garden and Stand Up), which will be released in 2009. FIRE’s upcoming projects including a U.S. tour in Fall, 2009, as well as concerts at Austrian Cultural Forum, Issue Project Room, and Lincoln Center. Comprised of both Eastern and Western instruments and some of today’s most gifted and promising young musicians, FIRE advocates music in a wide variety of styles, ranging from avant-garde modernism to world music, visual arts, and experimental music.  For more information about FIRE, please visit: www.myspace.com/futureinreverse

Aaron Byod (Violin)

Violinist Aaron Boyd enjoys a versatile career as an established chamber musician, soloist and teacher. Since making his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony at the age of 17, Mr. Boyd has been heard in concert across the United States, Europe and Asia. As a chamber musician, he as collaborated with members of the Beaux Arts Trio, the Juilliard, Guarneri and Orion Quartets, Phillippe Entremont, Mitsuko Uchida, Anner Bylsma and Gerard Poulet. Mr. Boyd has played as a member of the Metamorphosen, Prometheus and Orpheus chamber orchestras and toured internationally as a member of the Sejong Soloists. Mr. Boyd has participated in the Marlboro, Tanglewood, Fontainbleau, IMS Prussia Cove, Great Mountains (Korea) and La Jolla festivals and has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions including the Klein Violin Competition, the Tuesday Music Society and the Pittsburgh Concert Society. 

Mr. Boydصs passionate interest in contemporary music has led to numerous premiers in concert and on record, including Milton Babbittصs 6^th String Quartet and Babbittصs Clarinet Quintet. Mr. Boyd is currently first violinist and a founding member of the Zukofsky Quartet, Quartet-In-Residence at New Yorkصs Bargemusic series.  With interests ranging beyond the classical genre, Mr. Boyd has played and recorded in collaboration with Jazz legend Dick Hyman, Chanteuse Badomi DeCesare, and appeared in concert on the mandolin with flutist Paula Robison. Highlights of the upcoming season include an appearance on Lincoln Centerصs زGreat Performersس series with Midori, the premier of David Gommperصs Violin Concerto with the Manhattan Sinfonietta, and at the invitation of Columbia University and The University of Chicago the Zukofsky Quartet will present all of Milton Babbittصs String Quartets in one concert.  Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Boyd began playing the violin at age 7 and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied with Sally Thomas and coached extensively with Harvey Shapiro. As a recording artist, Mr. Boyd can be heard on the Tzadik, Furious Artisans, North/South and Naxos labels.   Mr. Boyd recently joined the Violin Faculty of Columbia University and plays a violin crafted in 1995 by Samuel Zygmuntowicz. 

Stephen Buck (Piano)

Stephen Buck, pianist, has performed solo and chamber works around the world.  His most recent projects include joining the piano quartet Ensemble Argos and the co-founding new music ensemble Hammer/Klavier.  Currently serving on the faculties of SUNY Purchase and the Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, NY, Dr. Buck was recently awarded his doctoral degree from Yale University.  Recent engagements have included work with So Percussion at Columbia University’s Miller Theater, a concert of works by composer Huang Ruo, four-hand recitals and a performance of Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with pianist and wife Tanya Bannister and the Westchester Philharmonic, vocal collaboration with soprano Heather Buck, and a lecture on the commedia dell’arte in piano repertoire at the Casa Italiana of NYU.  An avid chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Mr. Buck has taught and performed for several summers at the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in southern Italy.  In 2006 he co-founded theAlpenKammerMusik Festival in Austria, an intensive 9-day course for musicians of all ages.  He has studied at many prestigious summer music festivals, including Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine. A firm believer in the value of new music, Mr. Buck has performed works of George Crumb, Steve Reich, and Alvin Singleton for the composers, as well as many works by his own contemporaries, including Marcus Maroney, Sebastián Zubieta, Roshanne Etezady, and others.  
 

Judy Kang (Violin)

This charismatic violinist, born and raised in Canada, is establishing a career filled with diversity in musical style and artistic flair, and a continuous innnovation in performance. Judy burst onto the classical music scene at age ten, in a nationally acclaimed televised performance as soloist with the National Arts Center Orchestra.  At 17, Judy captured the Grand-Prize as well as the “Best Interpretation” prize at the CBC Competition for Young Performers, Canada’s most honoured competition.  Judy has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean Islands and has performed in recital and with all of the major orchestras of Canada. She gave a solo performance for former Canadian prime-minister Brian Mulroney when she was nine and has also had the privilege of performing for former US president Bill Clinton.  She made her debut in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall to critical acclaim, and has performed at Lincoln Center, Tokyo Suntory Hall, and Wigmore, as well as at the Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums in New York. Judy has worked closely with notable composers, Leon Kirchner, Richard Danielpour, Alexander Goehr, and Pierre Boulez, with whom, after an intense week of collaboration, lead to a successful culminating concert. Canadian composer, Michael Matthews, has written a violin concerto for her. A founding member of the piano quartet ‘Made In Canada’, formed at the Banff Center in 2006, the group immediately earned recognition in their native Canada and have received scholarships and awards including the eminent 2006 Galaxie Rising Stars Award. They were featured in Chatelaine Magazine for Women as one of 80 women to watch.  At the age of 19, Judy was granted the Lily Foldes Scholarship from the Juilliard School, and graduated with a Masters Degree. She became the first graduate, with high honours, of the prestigious Artist Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music. Her mentors include Sylvia Rosenberg, Robert Mann, and Lorand Fenyves, Aaron Rosand, and Gary Graffman.She won top prizes at the Nielsen, Dong-A, Kreisler, and Naumburg International Violin Competitions.  Judy has appeared on CBC, CNN, and MTV. She released two critically acclaimed CDs on the CBC Records label. She is also frequently heard live and through broadcasts on CBC (Canada), BBC (London), and on WQXR (New York). She won the ‘Sylva Gelber’ Prize given to the most talented musician under 30. In recognition of her outstanding achievement and contribution to the arts, Judy is featured as an accomplished artist and inspiration in a book entitled Korea and Canada: A Shared History. Judy is a mentor and artist for Young Audiences (YA), the nation’s largest nonprofit arts in education organization. She is also an artist and ambassador for WorldVision, a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. She currently plays on the 1689 “Baumgartner” Stradivarius on generous loan from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Erin Wight (Viola)

Violist Erin Wight, a Midwestern transplant to New York City, is an active chamber musician and avid performer of new music.  She performs frequently as a member of the Red Light New Music Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, and Future In Reverse (FIRE), all ensembles with a dedication to exploring contemporary repertoire.  Ms. Wight has also played with the New Juilliard Ensemble, Axiom, the Juilliard Electric Ensemble, and worked closely with members of Ensemble Modern.  In addition, Ms. Wight is a founding member of the Toomai String Quintet, 2007 winners of the 92nd St. Y’s Music Unlocked! competition for emerging ensembles dedicated to educational outreach.  Ms. Wight is deeply committed to community engagement and is on the teaching artist faculty of the New York Philharmonic’s School Partnership Program, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall.  Ms. Wight completed her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School where she studied with Paul Neubauer.

Charles Tyler (Cello)

Having been named winner of the 2006 Cleveland Institute of Music’s Concerto Competition and the 2007 Cleveland Cello Society Competition, Charles Tyler is a rising musician who has performed live on radio stations of Cleveland and Chicago and with orchestras around the country as soloist.  Most recently Tyler acted as principal cellist for the National Repertory Orchestra’s 2008 summer season in Breckenridge Colorado.  There he performed Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme and Bernstein’s Three Meditations from Mass as soloist under conductors Andres Moran and Kristjan Järvi.  In previous summers, Tyler attended the Meadowmount School of Music in 2002 and 2003 and the Encore School for Strings in 2005 and 2006 where performed works of Rachmaninoff, Martinu, and Brahms.  In the summer of 2007 he attended Villefavard, an intensive master class session lead by Maurico Fuks and Michel Strauss in central France.  He then continued his studies with Strauss at the Conservatoire National Superior de Musique de Paris for the fall of 2007.  In addition to performing more traditional repertoire, Tyler has also performed George Crumb’s innovative electric string quartet Black Angels on a live radio broadcast on Cleveland’s WCLV.  Being an advocate of new music, he has premiered and performed numerous new works in orchestral, chamber and solo settings.  Tyler has performed in masterclasses for Paul Katz, Steven Doane, Eleonore Schoenfeld, Zvi Plesser, Peter Salaff, the Cavani String Quartet, and the Osiris Piano Trio and has previously studied with Tanya Carey and Jeanne Johannesen.  In the spring of 2008 he received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music graduating with honors.  There he was a student of Richard Aaron, Melissa Kraut, and Richard Weiss and will continue his studies in the fall of 2008 at The Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick.