MUS Talks | Introduction of Spectral Music
Theme：Introduction of Spectral Music
Language: Chinese
Speaker: Prof. Zhuosheng Jin
Host: Pengfei Yu
Date&Time: Sep.18, 2023 (Mon.) 19:00
Venue: Lecture Room 102, Teaching Building(MUS)
Abstract
Spectral music is one of the most important waves of 20th century classic music. This lecture intends to make an accessible introduction of Spectral music. Through this lecture, the audiences will know the basic concepts and be able to listen to the Spectral works critically.
About the Speaker
Dr. Zhuosheng JIN is currently an Assistant Professor at the School of Music, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. With his music described as “powerful” and “haunting” (The New York Times), Dr. JIN (b1991, Ningbo, China) is a composer, pianist, and writer. JIN’s music spans a variety of instrumentations and mediums, including orchestra, chamber, solo, and electronic. Influenced by filmmakers such as Theo Angelopoulos and Andrei Tarkovsky, JIN’s composition emphasizes relationships between literature, especially poetry, and sonic texture. In his music, the sound is always driven by its literary implications. There are particular topics setting his composition up that he often emphasizes in his music writings, including the destined loneliness of beings, identities, homesickness, love, and so on.
Dr. JIN holds degrees from Oberlin College (BM ‘15), Boston University (MM ‘17), and McGill University (DMUS ‘22). His teachers include Philippe Leroux, Joshua Fineberg, Josh Levine, Alex Mincek, and Xiaogang YE (composition), Shuxing Zheng, Robert Shannon, Webb Wiggins, and David Breitman (keyboard), Davide Ianni (electronic music), and Christoph Neidh?fer (music theory), among others. JIN also followed private lessons and master classes with Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, Beat Furrer, Marco Stroppa, and Stefano Gervasoni, et al.
The awards he has won include Toru Takemitsu Composition Award (2019, 3rd prize), Matan Givol Composers Competition (2020, 1st prize), Salvatore Martirano Award (2020, 1st prize), Irino Prize (2021), Novalis International Composition Competition (2021), Luba Zuke Prize (2021), New Generation Composition Competition (2020, 3rd prize), John Rea Award (2019), Société de concerts de Montréal Emerging Composers Competition (2018), and TURNmusic Collegiate Composition Prize (2017). He has also received honorable mentions in the I/CREATION Composition Competition (2021 and 2018), Appassionato Ensemble Composition Competition (2021), Lake George Composition Competition (2019), Breaking Music Composition Contest (2019), and Giovannini Composition Competition (2018), etc. His scores are published by BabelScores.
JIN’s music has been programmed worldwide by IRCAM-Manifeste, Festival Archipel, Impuls Festival, Composit New Music Festival, Delian New Music Festival, outHear New Music Week, CEME Festival, ARCO Université, June in Buffalo New Music Festival, and Beijing Modern Music Festival, etc. He has written for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Klangforum Wien (soloists), Ensemble InterContemporain (soloists), Ensemble MusikFabrik (soloists), Divertimento Ensemble (soloists), Schallfeld Ensemble (soloists), Meitar Ensemble, Les Métaboles, Ensemble Multilatérale (soloists), AsianArt Ensemble, Barcelona Modern Ensemble, Quatuor Béla, Ensemble Mdi, Syntax Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, JACK Quartet, Trio Roadrunner, and Ensemble Mise-en, etc., as well as conductors Pierre-André Valade, Jean-Philippe Wurtz, Guillaume Bourgogne, Kanako Abe, Pasquale Corrado, Yongyan Hu, Daye Lin, and Brian Liao, et al. His articles are published by major periodicals such as Music Weekly, China, etc.
JIN has also worked as an author, director, and curator. Projects include “At the Last Day” (director, screenwriter, and leading actor; short drama, 2009 made in Beijing), “Funeral of Adam” (director, screenwriter, and leading actor; film, 2012 made in Xi’an), “Eyes and Mind” (curator and sound director; art exhibition, 2015 in Shenzhen Art Academy), and “HOME” (sound artist, installation, 2017 made in Boston), “field | guide” (text, multimedia project, 2019-22 in Boston), among others. His first book of poems will be published in 2023 in Taiwan, China.
He is the founder and currently the organiser of “MUS Talks” Lecture Series and the Salon Concert Series at the School of Music, CUHK-Shenzhen. As a guest lecturer, JIN has been well-received at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of California Irvine, Université de Montréal, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and several universities in China, among others.
About the Host
YU Pengfei, currently serving as a lecturer at the School of Music, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, graduated from the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music for both his undergraduate and master's degrees. His musical style is deeply rooted in the collision of tradition and contemporary ideas, with a particular emphasis on individual temperament and musical expression within the context of contemporary China. His works encompass various genres including chamber music, symphony, and Chinese traditional music.
In recent years, YU Pengfei's works have garnered wide acceptance and acclaim, leading to commissions from prestigious music festivals and renowned performing groups both domestically and internationally. His compositions have been premiered by prominent orchestras and ensembles. For instance, his symphony "Tu Lin Jin Jing" was premiered by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and his chamber music piece "Late Tang" had its debut performance by the New Music Ensemble of Poland. Additionally, he has made multiple appearances on CCTV (China Central Television). Some of his works have been recorded and released by well-known publishers in China and abroad. For example, his piano work "The Wilderness of Hometown" was published and distributed by NAXOS. His chamber music piece "Moonlit Silversmith" was published and distributed by Universal Music (supported by the "Four Batches of Talents Plan" of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and the 211 Project of the Central Conservatory of Music), and the sheet music was published by People's Music Publishing House.
