Piano Concerto—Houston
“... a piano concerto for an era when classical music is in flux.”
—Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle
Playing the piano can oftentimes be lonely. Recognizing this, composer Byron Au Yong and artist Susie J. Lee gather pianists to share stories. Thinking about the concerto as a form for a soloist and ensemble, Au Yong and Lee consider each pianist as a soloist and an ensemble member.
Lee films the pianists. Au Yong provides an open notation Piano Concerto score. 11 pianists rehearse together, then record. This results in an intimate installation of solo video portraits and an ensemble audio sculpture.
Audio
Video Portrait excerpts
Media Sculpture Video
Score (scroll inside frame)
Creative Team
Byron Au Yong, composer and co-creator
Susie J. Lee, social sculptor and co-creator
Soyoung Shin, cinematographer, photographer
Will Gibbs, technical director
Afshin Farzadfar, recording engineer
Robb Kunz, audio mastering
Jared Bender, sculpture fabrication
Joe Freeman, photographer
Houston Pianists
Sonya Bandouil
Jason Castaneda
Stephen Fierros
Lisa E. Harris
Timothy Hester
Darrell Jenkins
Saun Cheng Lee
Andreea Mut
Robert Rhodes
Linda Singer
Jenni Rebecca Stephenson
Details
Duration: variable
Commissioned and presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston
Exhibitions and Performances
2014 Premiere at the CounterCurrent Festival, Bermac Arts Center
2015 (Im)materiel Exhibition at the Headlands Center for the Arts
2016 New Strands Festival at the American Conservatory Theatre
Press Quote
“In January, they found 11 Houston musicians of varying abilities and styles to play Au Yong’s concerto, including a professor of piano at the Moores School of Music, a lawyer who played to support himself through school and still keeps a piano in one of his three offices, an opera singer who plays improvisationally, and a brother and sister who have played piano since they were children, but not professionally.”
Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle
Timeline
Piano Concerto–Houston
February/March: Individual Interviews of pianists in their home or studio
March: Public Gathering with all 11 participants to meet, share stories & rehearse
March: Audio/Video Recording of pianist portraits
April: Installation presented at the Mitchell Center for the Arts CounterCurrent Festival
Installation:
4-channel audio installation
4-channel video projection
HDTV for video portraits
Special Thanks
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Karen Farber, Frye Art Museum, David Garcia, Katrina Hess, Kerry Inman, LD Systems, Tiffany Lin, Kimball McMahan, Bryan Miller, Frank Minoru Phillips, MicroSearch Pro Video Sales & Rental, Moores School of Music, Nicole Romano, Tom Stiles, Chris Strompolos, Teruhiko Toda, Margret Truax, University of Houston, Rick Valentine, Emily C. Watts