Jenny Q Chai

Don’t Call Me a Pianist!

peter — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:19:17 +0000

An essay by Jenny Q Chai.

Who are we without names? Are we still who we are without names?
If yes, then why do we need names?
Are names categorizations, or mere symbols of our real selves?

Of course, we need names for identification. Like in a library, the books labeled with numbers then become associated with the numbers. But let’s not forget, the book is about what it is about, with or without the labeling.

What is the title pianist? Is it a person who plays on pianos? Is it a job, a profession? Is it a kind of art form? When thinking about the word pianist, people immediately associate it with Rubinstein, Horowitz, Liszt, Chopin, etc.
If we strip away the title pianist, who are these people?

Why do so many unique people all fit in one position, pianist, with its limitation of association?

Music is about the world, full of symbols, numbers, beauty and passion.

Please, don’t call me a pianist. Please take away the conformity and the preformed ideas. Please do not cage me with the boxes of pianism.
I am simply a performing artist, using piano as my tool.

Jenny Performs with Baseball and Mitt at An Die Musik LIVE

Sam — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:06:27 +0000

On Thursday, May 9, Jenny Q Chai will perform an altered version of her program Acqua Alta at Baltimore’s premiere classical/experimental music venue An Die Musik. The program will include Annie Gosfield’s dynamic work Brooklyn, October 5, 2941, which memorializes Mickey Owens’s famous blunder that granted the Yankees victory in the 1941 World Series (and blemished his own epic career from that moment on). Written into the piece is a portion where the pianist plays her instrument with a baseball mitt and glove.

The recital begins at 8:00 pm on May 9, located at An Die Musik, 409 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD. Tickets are $12 for the general public, $10 for full-time students. Contact 410-385-2638 for for more information.

The complete program is as follows:

Milica Paranosic Bubble World Premiere

Kurtag Hommage à Scarlatti

Scarlatti Sonatas

Gibbons The Italian Ground (1613)

Marco Stroppa Ninnananna from Miniature Estrose

Liszt La lugubre gondola

Debussy Prelude to La cathédrale engloutie

Ravel Une Barque Sur L’océan from Miroirs

Nils Vigeland I Turisti World Premiere

Michael Vincent Waller Acqua Santa World Premiere

Annie Gosfield Brooklyn, October 5, 1941

Jenny Performs John Cage’s WATER WALK and more at Spectrum NYC

peter — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:03:47 +0000

Jenny will perform a concert entitled Acqua Alta (High Water), at New York City’s Spectrum on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 8pm. Spectrum is located at 121 Ludlow St., New York City. Admission is $15 general / $10 students & seniors.

Acqua Alta (High Water) will be the anchor of a month-long programming focus on global warming at Spectrum, with sound and video installations based on data curated by Ian Fenty, whose doctoral dissertation at MIT addressed global warming and its effects on our oceans.

“I wanted to create a program that is multifaceted like the surface of a sparkling stream in Venice,” says pianist Chai. “The music on this program features the piano’s range of expression, from exquisite nuance to bold gesture.”

John Cage’s athletic Water Walk is the centerpiece of the program. Written in 1959, John Cage’s Water Walk is scored for a number of objects, including bathtub, rubber duck, prepared piano and five radios. It was originally premiered on the Italian TV show Lascia O Raddoppia. Ninnananna from Marco Stroppa’s Miniature Estrose—a lullaby in which its out of worldly tremors creates a gentle watery shimmer and explores the two relations between two states of mind, with initiated knowledge one might trace hidden lullabies by Brahms, Schubert, Stravinsky and an Italian lullaby Stroppa’s mother used to sing to him. Scarlatti and Gibbons provides the sensation of traveling back in time in Italy, while Debussy and Ravel adds their watery imagery. Three world premieres by Nils Vigeland, Milica Paranosic and Michael Vincent Waller reflect contemporary composers’ take on global warming.

To complete the experience, the stage and the hall are transformed with projections of Italian Renaissance paintings, which stunningly portray the luminous beauty of Italy.

Acqua Alta (High Water) Concert Program:

Milica Paranosic Bubble World Premiere
Kurtag Hommage à Scarlatti
Scarlatti, Sonatas
Gibbons, Allemande (1613)
Marco Stroppa, Ninnananna from Miniature Estrose
Liszt, La lugubre gondola
Debussy, Prelude La cathédrale engloutie
Ravel, Une Barque Sur L’océan from Miroirs
Nils Vigeland, I Turisti World Premiere
Michael Vincent Waller Acqua Santa World Premiere
John Cage, Water Walk

New image of Jenny, by Richard Warren

peter — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:11:00 +0000

I asked composer Marco Stroppa to comment on this picture by photographer Richard Warren and here’s what he said: “It’s hard to express something precisely, since it creates a sort of dreamy, unreal atmosphere. It looks as though you’re on the verge to fly to an unknown destination. It’s not clear, though, whether the doves will accompany you, or whether they will simply watch your departure, but this is not so important!”

Artist as elegance…as fencer…as boxer

peter — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 18:45:23 +0000

New photo added today! About this pic, composer Nils Vigeland says: “This has many metaphors! Artist as elegance…as fencer…as boxer”

A Look Back to 2012; Leaping Into 2013

peter — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 23:03:19 +0000

Dear Music Lovers,

It is heartwarming to realize how lucky we are as musicians to be able to be touch others through the power of music.

In the holiday season, after my trip from NYC, full of wonder and beauty, I am ever clearer in my realization how fortunate I am to be granted the gift of music as the medium for my expression, self-reflection, and communication.

2012 was a very fruitful year for me — highlights include my debut at Zankel, The Dame Myra Hess Series at the Chicago Cultural Center (another beautiful place to pair Kurtag with Schumann), and Le Poisson Rouge right in time to catch Hurrican Sandy — another exciting episode. I was happy that these concerts were well reviewed by NYTimes, mentioned by Time Out NY, Alex Ross and many blog reviewers such as Lucid Culture, the Glass, I care if You Listen, Sequenza21, and more.

My lecture-recital with my D.M.A. thesis was the highlight of my stay in NY this December (read the review in THE GLASS). The topic being Marco Stroppa’s beautiful, complex and poetic piece Innige Cavatina. Where all my professors showed up and cheered me up. It was, (I guess) better than a wedding!

My life in China has been busy too. My cultural exchange and education center FaceArt has welcomed quite a few wonderful artists from Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, Curtis, Indiana University, producing a new generation of Chinese piano students who are no longer just good craftsmen. They have already won international competitions, toured in Europe and some been accepted into Manhattan School of Music for further studies.

I really see the importance of promoting contemporary music in China and have given the first piano solo all contemporary concert at the National Performing Arts Center in Beijing, and have been interviewed a few times talking about new music on magazines in China.

In 2013, I will continue to pursue what I believe is important in music and especially contemporary music, making our music history alive. Curating the night of April 19th at Spectrum (the “new LPR”) will be the highlight of my return to NYC. A CD of Nils Vigeland’s solo piano music is also to be anticipated.

I love having you as part of my artistic development; thank you for your support as always!

Love,
Jenny Q Chai

Dissecting Stroppa

helen — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:57:20 +0000

In a groundbreaking performance mixing academics with theater, Jenny Q Chai, wearing a doctor’s lab coat, will “dissect Stroppa” and in particular, his recent work, “Innige Cavatina” from the collection Miniature Estrose. Chai met the composer Marco Stroppa in Darmstadt, Germany five years ago, and she was immediately enthralled by his music. The two kept in touch musically, and Stroppa introduced Chai to Pierre-Laurent Aimard, with whom she has studied for two years. This lecture-recital is taking place as part of Jenny Q Chai’s D.M.A. thesis and dissertation on Stroppa.

“Dissecting Stroppa” – An Analysis of “Innige Cavatina” from Miniature Estrose by Marco Stroppa will take place on Monday Dec. 3rd, 7:30 PM, at Miller Hall, Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Avenue, in New York City (Tel: 212 749 2802). Admission is free.

Composer, researcher and professor, Marco Stroppa was born in Verona, Italy, and has composed for both acoustical instruments and new media. His repertoire includes works for concerts, one music drama, two radio operas and various special projects. He often groups several works around large cycles exploring specific compositional projects, such as a series of concertos for instrument and a spatialized orchestra or ensemble inspired by poems of W.B. Yeats, a book of Miniature Estrose, seven pieces for solo piano, a cycle of works for solo instrument and chamber electronic music inspired by poems of e. e. cummings, and two string quartets. He has worked as a composer and researcher, teacher at IRCAM, and he founded the composition and computer music workshop at the International Bartók Festival in Szombathély, Hungary. He taught composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and Lyon and since 1999 he has been full professor of composition and computer music at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. He studied at the Conservatories of Verona, Milan and Venice and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.

Countdown to November 4 at LPR…

peter — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:29:47 +0000

George Grella spins a Jenny Q tune on his blog, THE SMALLER CITY:

Jenny makes her debut at Le Poisson Rouge

helen — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:50:37 +0000

Following her recent, critically acclaimed New York Carnegie Hall debut, pianist Jenny Q Chai has been selected to appear at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge. The concert will take place on Sunday, November 4 at 7:30pm (doors at 6:30pm). Ms. Chai will perform works by Satie, Schoenberg, Stockhausen, Scarlatti, Stroppa, and more. Le Poisson Rouge is located at 158 Bleecker Street in New York City. For more information or tickets ($15/$20), visit www.LePoissonRouge.com.

COMPLETE PROGRAM:
Satie Three Gymnopedies
Schoenberg Op.11 Drei Klavierstücke
Stockhausen Klavierstucke Nr.8
Scarlatti two sonatas
Stroppa Innige Cavatina
John Cage the Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs/nowth upon nacht
Nils Vigeland Barcarolle from Life Sketches
Bouchorechliev Orion III
Chopin Barcarolle

Jenny to appear on Dame Myra Hess Series, Chicago

peter — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 04:04:13 +0000

Pianist Jenny Q Chai has been selected to appear on Chicago’s esteemed Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, held at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, August 8 at 12:15pm. Ms. Chai will perform Gyorgy Kurtág’s Les adieux, as well as Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana. The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 E. Washington. For more information, visit www.chicagoculturalcenter.org.

The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, produced by the International Music Foundation (www.imfchicago.org) have been presented under the magnificent Tiffany stained-glass dome in the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. since 1977, are broadcast live over WFMT Radio (98.7FM) locally, and are streamed globally over www.wfmt.com. The concerts are an important showcase for local, national, and international emerging classical artists, and follow in the tradition of Dame Myra Hess, one of the most eminent pianists of the 20th century, who started a daily concert series in London’s National Gallery that ran for 6 years during World War II.