Marie de Testa, set design
Irène Han, cello

Hope Littwin, voice, piano, and electronics
Charlotte Mundy, voice and electronics
Courtney Orlando, violin and voice
Christian Quiñones, electronics
Justin Wright, cello

Louis Andriessen
XENIA
Caccia
Song
Courtney Orlando, violin and voice

Soo Yeon Lyuh
Florescence
Courtney Orlando, violin

This piece represents my attempt at finding a balance between concept and sound, my head
and my heart. Inspired by—but not limited to—Louis Andriessen’s XENIA (2005) for solo
violin, the piece tries to use sound in service of concept. Academically, I take this as an
opportunity to alter my composition habit that had usually been based on whim. Not only
that, I dedicate this piece to my best friend Young Hwa, whose Korean nickname includes the
word “flower.” Relatedly, I imagined a musical process of flowering in structuring this piece,
hence its title: Florescence. The piece indicates a story of our friendship in two parts. The first
section is filled with distinctively solo violin passages with lots of repetitions and variations on
a single theme. Then a new element—a long G note, a friendship—enters the narrative and
eventually grounds it, like a fluorescent lamp that shows me the way wherever I go.

Éliane Radigue
L’Île Re-Sonante (excerpt)
Audio

Hope Littwin
I Am Willing To See It Differently
Hope Littwin, voice, piano, and electronics

I Am Willing To See It Differently has been my personal mantra and prayer over the last year
and a half. As of the due date of these program notes I am still unsure what this piece will
become. I do know that in the last few weeks I have experienced an un-processable amount
of life. A triple hit of unexpected loss in my close circle, a sobering diagnosis for my father,
and sudden changes in my living situation and future plans in quite a few categories of life. I
keep thinking that music is the perfect place to channel this energy to alchemize what feels
overwhelming into something cathartic and am currently navigating this territory to consider
how I might honor the eruption of life events into a meaningful piece of work that also honors
the stipulations and values of the exam process… I hope that happens between now and the
11th, which happens to be my lucky number… because 11 is a mirror image of itself, and in a
time when I’m harnessing everything I’ve got to see clearly in a fog, that feels like an apt koan.

I Am Willing To See It Differently
That’s been dramatic
radio static
Signing off,
you’re favorite pyrotechnic in love
Someone get my heart off
This wheel of samsara
thought we’d get to more mischief
Before it blew up
I burned the boat
drew the bridge, left the moat
Cause I cling
When you get close…
This is a place I
frequent in my mind
But it’s been a long time
Since I picked up the phone
And tho
There’s always sunrise
After the riptide
I’m worried that this time
I messed it all up
Oh I feel small,
Like I might lose it all
Raise a glass
Make a toast
To the past
I’m letting go
Be still my heart
Looks far to fall
But I’m willing to see it differently
I’m willing to see it differently
One immortal kiss
My wartime wish
My foxhole prayer
If Hope is a thing with wings
I guess we’ll see
Now en plein air
But I’m willing to see it differently
I’m willing to see it differently

INTERMISSION

Remy Siu
new notations – for [multi]player
Charlotte Mundy, voice and electronics
Christian Quiñones, electronics

Christian Quiñones
Untitled
i. Type
ii. Ctrl
iii. Alt
Charlotte Mundy, voice and electronics

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the idea of interactivity and possible musical uses. I’ve been
really drawn to the prospect of creating multimedia environments where music is almost a
byproduct of how you interact with an environment, more specifically I’ve been drawn to the
idea of building sonic and visual playgrounds. This approach creates an interesting feedback
loop between how the visual elements inform the way you approach making music as a
performer and how you want the music to influence the visuals to the point where all these
elements affect each other without one component taking priority.

I listened to Remy Siu’s new notations – for [multi]player three years ago and I remember it
leaving a big impression on me. At the time (and to this day) it seemed like such a radical way
of approaching making music, and three years later, when I approached him to react and
perform his piece, he also mentioned something that stuck with me. As we discussed what
was ‘allowed’ and ‘not allowed’ in his piece, he mentioned how the visual environment is the
score for the piece. By designing the possible interactions with the environment (both visually
and sound-wise), his job as a composer is ‘complete.’ This realization that a score can be an
ever-changing interactive or sonic playground transformed my approach to composition, and
the idea of ‘design and restrictions’ as a compositional tool became the guiding principle for
this piece.

As a response to that, Following / Flocking is a piece that deals with this idea of control and
limitation in many layers. The piece is divided into three movements and each movement has
a different dynamic between the performer and the device that they are interacting with.
Each movement only has minimal instructions, and the performer is free to interact with the
piece however they want. Each movement was approached as a micro experiment that
challenges and tackles different questions about the role of a performer and the friction within
various layers of humanity and technology.

This piece was also possible thanks to the collaboration with Charlotte Mundy. This was my
first foray into multimedia, and her feedback and constant workshopping were integral to
making this piece. Charlotte also wrote the text for the first movement, contributed text for
the second movement, and contributed the musical material for the vocal part for the first and
third movements.

Anonymous
Laudemus Dominum
(with Winchester organum, trans. Susan Rankin)
Marie de Testa, set design
Irène Han, cello
Justin Wright, cello
Chant consultants:
Anastasia Shmytova
Prof Susan Rankin
Prof Rob Wegman
Marcel Pérès

Justin Wright
Idle Hands: A Cyclic Mass for Two Cellos
i. Trope
ii. Cantus Firmus I: Motet
iii. Organum
iv. Cantus Firmus II: Notre-Dame School
v. Isorhythm and Beyond

Marie de Testa, set design
Irène Han, cello
Justin Wright, cello

Chant consultants:
Anastasia Shmytova
Prof Susan Rankin
Prof Rob Wegman
Marcel Pérès

I will give my program notes from stage, but feel the need to mention here that I owe a huge
debt of gratitude to Anastasia Shmytova, Susan Rankin, Rob Wegman, and Marcel Pérès for
inspiring me with their passionate research, and for taking the time to teach me everything I
know about chant.

Marie de Testa is an architect and set designer currently pursuing a PhD in History and
Theory of Architecture.

Cellist Irène Han is a dynamic and versatile musician with a deep passion for exploring diverse
genres of music. She has performed at venues such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and
New York City Center. Irène is a member of the Bergamot Quartet, a New York-based string
quartet committed to advocating, creating, and educating audiences about music by living
composers. She also co-leads a chamber project with pianist Chelsea de Souza, dedicated to
commissioning works by Asian-American composers, most recently funded by New Music
USA. Additionally, she is a member of the Tal Yahalom Quintet, an eclectic group of
performers from NYC’s jazz, contemporary classical, and Brazilian music scenes. Upcoming
highlights include performances at Merkin Hall and Roulette, as well as serving as faculty at
the Creative Music Institute of Arts, Letters, and Numbers. She plays ‘Pierre,’ a cello crafted
by luthier David Finck.

American composer and music producer Hope Littwin grew up in dance and theater before
she took to music, first as a singer-songwriter then as a classical singer and now as a
composer and music producer. She loves to collaborate with artists of all kinds on big, daring,
expressive works. Hope’s compositions fuse chamber music, songwriting, free jazz and
electronics. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Music Composition at Princeton University.
Hope’s original works (including Songs of Communal Becoming, Kitchen Dances and
Colonize Mars) are available for streaming on Bandcamp and YouTube, albums (Wild Beast,
Husk and others) can be found on Spotify and iTunes. Find Hope on Instagram @hopelittwin

Soo Yeon Lyuh is a composer, improviser, and master of the haegeum, a two-stringed Korean
bowed instrument. Hailing from Daegu, South Korea by way of Princeton, New Jersey, Lyuh
draws inspiration from traditional Korean music to perform a meld of improvisatory and
experimental sounds. She is currently pursuing the second PhD in composition at Princeton
University, after receiving her first doctorate in Korean music at Seoul National University. As a
performer, Lyuh possesses flawless technique and a full command of the haegeum’s
traditional repertoire. For twelve years, she was a member of South Korea’s National Gugak
Center, which traces its roots to the 7th Century Shilla Dynasty and is Korea’s foremost
institution for the preservation of traditional music. To weave authentic styles into new
musical domains, Lyuh relocated in 2015 to the San Francisco Bay Area and drew inspiration
from its dynamic improvised music scene. In 2017, she was invited to collaborate in a series of
concerts with the Kronos Quartet, and this work set her on the path of becoming a composer.
As a composer, Lyuh asks classically trained performers to think outside the box, drawing out
fresh sounds that, once understood, sound organic. Although these sounds are difficult to
specify with notation, Lyuh notates a lot of them and often demonstrates the parts by joining
and performing with the ensemble. Ultimately, Lyuh is all about making a bridge between
cultures across difficult times, and breaking down any walls.

Charlotte Mundy specializes in music that is new, daring and sublime. She has been called a
“daredevil with an unbreakable spine” (SF Classical Voice), and her performances have been
described as “an oasis of radiant beauty” (NYTimes) and “marvellously appealing” (The
Log). Mundy was awarded the Jan DeGaetani prize for contemporary song performance
from the 2019 Joy in Singing Competition, and has performed with the Resonant Bodies
Festival, BAM New Wave Festival, and New York Festival of Song. She has appeared as a
soloist at the 92nd Street Y, Metropolitan Museum, Park Avenue Armory, and the Library of
Congress, and given critically acclaimed renditions of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Boulez’s
Le Marteau sans Maître, Feldman’s Three Voices and Messiaen’s Poémes Pour Mí.
Mundy “slays the thorniest material like it’s nothing” (WQXR) with TAK ensemble at venues
including Issue Project Room, Miller Theater and the Look and Listen festival; she sings
stratospheric microtonal lines with Ekmeles vocal ensemble at venues including The Kitchen
and Philadelphia’s Rotunda. Mundy was a host of WQXR’s new music station, Q2music, from
2012 – 2015 and currently co-hosts, co-edits, and co-produces the TAK Editions Podcast. Her
compositions have been featured on the Resonant Bodies Festival, Chance and Circumstance
Festival, Periapsis Music and Dance festival, Higher Ground festival and Broad Statements.
She has lectured on writing for voice and participated in readings, workshops and
performances of student compositions at institutions including Columbia University,
Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, McGill, and Juilliard. Mundy studied at the Contemporary
Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music, and the Faculty of Music at the
University of Toronto, and is currently a doctoral fellow in Music Performance at the CUNY
Graduate Center. She was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and resides in Brooklyn

Heralded by The New York Times as a violinist of “tireless energy and bright tone” and The
Washington Post as “dangerously gifted,” Courtney Orlando specializes in the performance
of contemporary and crossover music. She is a founding member of the acclaimed new music
ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, which has premiered works by and collaborated with some of
the foremost composers of our time, including Hans Abrahamsen, John Adams, John Luther
Adams, Oscar Bettison, Tyondai Braxton, Donnacha Dennehy, Michael Gordon, Georg
Friedrich Haas, David Lang, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Wolfgang Rihm, Tyshawn Sorey,
Augusta Read Thomas, and Julia Wolfe. Performances with AWS include those at Carnegie
Hall, Lincoln Center, L.A.’s Disney Hall, the Kimmel Center, London’s Barbican Theatre, the
Library of Congress, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Amsterdam’s Holland Festival,
Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Merkin Hall, Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University,
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, EMPAC, Caramoor, Boston’s Gardner Museum, the Bang on
a Can Marathon and in cities across Europe and Asia. The group has recorded for Nonesuch
Records, Cantaloupe Music, and Indirecto. Courtney is also a member of Ensemble Signal, a
collective of musicians under the direction of conductor Brad Lubman. Signal has performed
at Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, L.A.’s Disney Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, The
Shed, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Big Ears Festival, the Ojai Festival, and the Bang on a
Can Marathon. Signal has collaborated extensively with Steve Reich; the group gave the U.S.
premieres of Reich’s Runner and Reich/Richter. Signal has also premiered works by Luca
Francesconi, George Lewis, and Nico Muhly, and has collaborated additionally with Hans
Abrahamsen, Unsuk Chin, Michael Gordon, Georg Friedrich Haas, Oliver Knussen, Helmut
Lachenmann, David Lang, Hilda Paredes, Kaija Saariaho, and Julia Wolfe. The group has
recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Mode, and Cantaloupe Music. At the Brooklyn Academy of
Music in the fall of 2008, Courtney took part in the premiere of Michael Gordon’s Lightning
at our feet, a multi-media song cycle on poems of Emily Dickinson. In this work, she was able
to explore her interest in simultaneously singing and playing the violin; since then, composers
have written music for her that highlights this combination. Additional ensemble work
includes performances with Dublin’s Crash Ensemble, the Wordless Music Orchestra,
Princeton Pro Musica, and the Princeton Symphony. She has performed and/or recorded with
Björk, the Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend, Yoko Ono, Sigur Rós’s Jónsi and Arcade Fire’s
Richard Reed Parry, and has worked with jazz and experimental musicians Theo Bleckmann;
Uri Cain; Michael Formanek; Medeski, Martin, and Wood and Joshua Redman. In addition to
the aforementioned recordings with Alarm Will Sound and Signal, Courtney has recorded for
Bridge, Chandos, ECM, Sonnabilis, Tzadik and Winter and Winter. Courtney is currently on
the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, where she is Assistant
Professor of Ear Training and Sight Reading. During her time at Peabody, she founded and ran
the new music ensemble Now Hear This and coached chamber music. Prior to teaching at
Peabody, she was an adjunct Theory lecturer at the Eastman School of Music and Syracuse
University. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in violin from Temple
University, and received a Master’s degree in Theory Pedagogy and a Doctoral degree in
Violin Performance and Literature from Eastman. Courtney lives in Princeton, NJ, with her
husband, composer Donnacha Dennehy, three children and their Bernedoodle, Walter.

Christian Quiñones is a Puerto Rican composer who explores personal and vulnerable stories
through the lens of cultural identity. From sampling to auto-tune, and to body percussion,
Christian is interested in interacting with existing music to create intertextual narratives.
Recently Christian was selected as a composer in residence at the Copland House, and as a
fellow for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Workshop, Cabrillo Festival, and the Bang on a
Can Summer Festival. In 2020 he was selected for the Earshot Underwood Orchestra
Readings where he worked with the American Composers Orchestra. He has received
commissions from the New York Youth Symphony, Albany Symphony’s Dogs of Desire,
Transient Canvas, the icarus Quartet, the Bergamot String Quartet, and the Victory Players
where Christian was the 2018 – 2019 composer in residence. Christian graduated from the
Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (BM) and the University of Illinois (MM), where he
was the recipient of the Graduate College Master’s Fellowship. Currently, Christian is a PhD
President’s fellow at Princeton University.

Justin Wright is a composer, cellist, and multimedia artist from Montreal, Canada. After
finishing his masters in molecular biology, Justin left science and started performing in bands
of all sorts before eventually teaching himself how to compose, using the techniques he
learned in recording studios. Justin’s primary composition tools, for both electronic and
acoustic music, are his cello, Ableton Live, a modular synthesizer, and a 4-track tape machine.
Lately, Justin has focused on filmmaking, early music, virtual reality, and in situ composition.
He has opened for artists such as Johann Johannsson, Hauschka, Thomas Mapfumo, Lubomyr
Melnyk, Colin Stetson, and Mount Eerie. Justin’s most recent album, A Really Good Spot, was
released in July 2022 on Beacon Sound and First Terrace Records. This summer, he will bring
a cello to Svalbard, near the North Pole, and film himself giving improvised performances in
remote Arctic environments.

A lab for Princeton University composers to collaborate with today’s
finest performers and ensembles, Princeton Sound Kitchen is a vital
forum for the creation of new music. Serving the graduate student and
faculty composers of the renowned composition program at the
Department of Music at Princeton University, PSK presents a wide variety
of concerts and events throughout the year.

Upcoming Princeton Sound Kitchen events
Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 8:00 PM, The Forum, Lewis Arts Complex
Felix Kindermann and Natalie Dietterich
Choir Piece (Composition for Separated Musicians)
This performance of Felix Kindermann’s Choir Piece, featuring Princeton University graduate
student composer Natalie Dietterich’s a cappella score for 16 singers Composition for
Separated Musicians, occupies the entire space of The Forum. The audience becomes part of
the work, finding themselves inside the sculpture, surrounded by the singers and embedded
in the sound.

Keep up to date about Princeton Sound Kitchen events on the
Current Season page of our website princetonsoundkitchen.org