Collaboration

Lili & Maurice : Female Composers of the French 20th Century

Cécile Chaminade, Mel Bonis, and Lili Boulanger are a group of highly esteemed female composers who established their careers at the turn of the 20th century. These women were able to overcome the hegemony of male-dominated society and catapulted even more female artists onto the music scene. The program aims to showcase the women’s achievements that made a highly influential mark during a prolific period in French musical literature between the end of Romanticism and the outset of Modernism. Works by Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Ravel, two of the most famous male composers of the time period, will also be presented to better highlight the lineage of these composers. And it includes various combinations of instruments like cello, piano, voice, and flute.

Breathmark : Suejin Jung, Qi Lu, Jada German, Scott Ordway

Breathing, as it relates to the life and function of all bodily forms, is the central focus of our project. Breathing is present everywhere…yet, this right (to breathe) is often overlooked and we face consequences that threaten our environment and our humanity. Making references from the recent wildfire in California that polluted the habitats of many including endangered animals to the tragic killing of George Floyd, we’ve created in our video a reflective moment to draw insight and awareness on what it means to safeguard and respect one’s body in the face of ecological balance and human rights.”

Animation “Jeux d’eau” by Suejin Jung and Timothée Lambert

Artists-in-residence Suejin Jung and Timothée Lambert have collaborated on the piece “Jeux d’eau” by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) to create a short animated film.

“Two years ago, I started research on the topic of birds and fish, in observing their differences, nature, genre, and violence. The research focused on literature, drawings, paintings, cartoons, and animation. When my friend Suejin asked me to collaborate on Jeux d’eau by Maurice Ravel, I saw an opportunity to develop my research farther and utilize my knowledge of graphics and animation techniques.

This music reminds me of The Legend of Zelda, a Japanese video game I liked to play since my childhood, & it was a great pleasure to work on this composition.” ~Timothée Lambert

Animated film with the music of Debussy: a project by Suejin Jung and Libéral Martin

For the 90th anniversary of the Fondation des États-Unis, Libéral Martin and Suejin Jung, respectively, created an animated film to the music of Débussy.

“This animation for the Études for piano by Débussy aims to depict a re-conceptualized piano. My idea was to re-imagine the hammers that make up the instrument. I intuitively composed these new hammers of joints, ropes and slides.

They are also made of a key that sinks into the void and a spherical flap that fills the black of an opening reminiscent of the black and white of the score. The hammers are organized on the model of a traditional scale and are progressively revealed throughout their choreography. The Études pour degrés chomratiques played by Suejin Jung draw a sequence of movements that stretch and twirl, emphasizing the dance of the fingers over the keys.” ~ Libéral Martin

Classical Music for Children: Storytelling thru Music & Art

THE PROGRAM

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) – selections from Children’s Corner

• Suejin Jung, piano & Nicole Schatz, animation

Dong-il Sheen (1965) – The Toad who Returned a Favor

• Sooyeon Kim, Violin & Caroline Sonett-Assor, flute & David Valbuena, clarinet & Polina Bakhtina, Cello & Suejin Jung, piano & Rachael Lansang, narrator

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) – Babar, the Little Elephant

• Suejin Jung, Piano & Kaiya McMurdo, animation & Rachael Lansang, narrator