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Princeton Sound Kitchen presents Tom Morrison: ‘Train Dreams’ + Mixtape 1
Presented by Princeton Sound Kitchen
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date & time
Tue, Oct 24, 2023
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
ticketing
Free, unticketed.
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Two sets of music in the course of one evening. First, Princeton University composition alumnus and current lecturer Tom Morrison presents a new work ‘Train Dreams.’ Then, PSK’s first Mixtape concert for the academic year, in which various artists and ensembles perform new works by Princeton University graduate student composers. This Mixtape will feature new works by Francisco del Pino and Nina Shekhar.
Program
Tom Morrison 1. As the Day Dissolves
2. pereskiopsis
3. In the Violet Sky
1. no way out but through
2. Perpetual Motion Machine
3. Train Dreams
Francisco del Pino Anima
Nina Shekhar Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner
Program Notes
Tom Morrison
- As the Day Dissolves
- pereskiopsis
- In the Violet Sky
Parker Ramsay, harp
These first three pieces are part of a longtime collaboration with my dear friend and collaborator, Parker Ramsay. All the sounds in the electronics are live processed from his harp or are from recordings of previous projects we’ve worked on.
In the first and third movements of this program, As the Day Dissolves and In the Violet Sky, I explore the concept of space—both musically and mentally—I was having trouble achieving in some of my other recent music. I sought to create pieces that embodied spaciousness.
The second movement, pereskiopsis, is part of a series dedicated to cacti. pereskiposis specifically draws inspiration from the pereskiopsis cactus, known for its rapid growth and its role as a grafting stock for other cacti. The act of grafting not only results in a visually intriguing amalgamation but also accelerates the growth of the grafted cactus. While some musical materials in this piece are derived from my piece bridgesii, which also pays homage to a cactus, pereskiopsis takes a wholly different musical path.
- no way out but through
- Perpetual Motion Machine
- Train Dreams
Han Chen, piano
no way out but through was commissioned by Han Chen for his “Infinite Staircase” commissioning project. Han commissioned 18 composers to write pieces inspired by György Ligeti’s 18 Piano Etudes. In celebration of his stunning new recording of the etudes, Han played each of Ligeti’s etudes and the 18 commissioned works in one evening. Since the piece is so short and is still in Han’s fingers, I figured I’d share it here. no way out but through is a response to Ligeti’s fourth etude, Fanfares.
The title Perpetual Motion Machine is an inside joke, far too dumb for me to explain here. It is the only one of my pieces this evening that uses sounds that are not from either the piano or harp.
Train Dreams originally was a short piece for piano and electronics—this new version builds on that little piece. The title comes from Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name. While the jumping-off point of inspiration was Johnson’s book, the piece is also largely inspired by my late-night journeys on the Northeast Corridor.
Francisco del Pino
Anima
Soo Yeon Lyuh, haegeum
When Soo Yeon asked me to write a piece for her, I became obsessed with the idea of a piece that was not only ‘for’ but also ‘about’ her instrument—an instrument that, for me, was uncharted territory.
I thus set out to learn about the haegeum. I found out that the instrument is also called paleum—“eight sounds”—due to it being made using eight different materials (bamboo, clay, gourd, hide, metal, silk, stone, and wood). I also learned that the word haegeum has a second meaning: the lifting of a prohibition, the unlocking of something previously forbidden.
Anima is a study on the instrument’s many faces and also a meditation on our own inner voices and secrets. It is based on a seven-note tune using a ciphered version of the word ‘haegeum’: B, A, E, G, etc. I conceived this piece for a soloist with pre-recorded haegeums, but I wanted it to also function as an ensemble piece. As such, no effects have been added, no processing has been made to the backing tracks: all that sounds stands as it was played in real time.
Nina Shekhar
Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner
Nina Shekhar, voice, electronics, and video
(NB: This piece contains strobe effects and flashing lights. Light-sensitive audience members may exit the auditorium as necessary.)
I never truly felt like a woman growing up. Being brown, I was a woman in mind, form, soul, and ambition—but never in American societal perception. Being a focus of others’ desire felt impossible for me, so I thought I myself wasn’t allowed to desire.
The quote “hate the sin, love the sinner” is often taken out of context from its original meaning. Gandhi’s full quote from his 1929 autobiography is “Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.” If, as Gandhi writes, we are all “tarred with the same brush,” then what informs our moral judgments over another person’s identity?
As I slowly learn who I am, reclaiming my voice, body, spirit, sexuality, and agency doesn’t make me a sinner.It makes me human.
About
Pianist Han Chen has emerged among the new generation of concert pianists as a uniquely fearless performer in a wide variety of musical settings. Gold medalist at the 2013 China International Piano Competition and a prizewinner at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition, he has been praised by Gramophone as “impressively commanding and authoritative” and further cited by The New York Times for his “graceful touch,” “rhythmic precision” and “hypnotic charm.” Chen’s virtuosity is enriched by a probing commitment to new and lesser-known works as well as the great cornerstones of the piano repertory. This vision is clearly evident in his four solo Naxos CDs focusing on Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Thomas Adès, and more recently, the critically acclaimed György Ligeti’s Complete Piano Études. As soloist with orchestra, Chen’s appearances include the Calgary Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony, China Symphony and Xiamen Philharmonic. He made his Lincoln Center debut with Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in December 2022 performing Mozart’s early masterwork, the Piano Concerto No. 9 Le Jeunehomme. Chen has performed as solo recitalist throughout Europe, North America, and China. In frequent demand as a chamber musician, Chen is a core member of Ensemble Échappé while regularly collaborating with The Metropolis Ensemble and other adventurous groups in performances in America and abroad. In 2021, Chen launched Migration Music, an ongoing series of interviews and performances featuring immigrant composers. Han Chen has studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky, Wha Kyung Byun, and Ursula Oppens at The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and CUNY Graduate Center. He is represented by Black Tea Music.
Francisco del Pino is a Buenos Aires-born composer and guitarist with an affinity for music that is meticulous, expressive, and patient. Drawing influence from both classical and vernacular traditions, his work revolves around process and pattern and is usually characterized by an extensive use of counterpoint. Francisco’s debut album Decir, a song cycle on texts by Argentinian poet Victoria Cóccaro, was released on New Amsterdam in 2021. His music has been described as “sheer beauty” (Bandcamp Daily), “lucid, entrancing” (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN), and “ethereal, yet heavy, distinguished, yet humble—and always beautiful” (Classical Post). Francisco is a PhD candidate in the Music Department and a fellow in the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities.
Soo Yeon Lyuh is a composer, improviser, and master of the haegeum, a two-stringed Korean bowed instrument. Lyuh’s work strikes a balance between originality and tradition, borrowing and recontextualizing familiar gestures from Korean music. Her soundscape follows a logic of texture, pacing, feeling, and unexpected turns. 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 and is Korea’s foremost institution for the preservation of traditional music. She pushes herself not only to command a deep understanding of historical works, but also to negotiate challenging new ones: Lyuh’s interest in improvisational music draws on Korean traditions lost to generations of performers.
Tom Morrison is a composer, electronic musician, and educator. He has written for leading new music groups, including the Aizuri Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, Latitude49, Sō Percussion, Contemporaneous, Yarn/Wire, Albany Symphony’s new music chamber orchestra Dogs of Desire, and the New Jersey Symphony, among others. Recent projects include new electroacoustic works for Theo Van Dyck and Parker Ramsay and a contribution to Han Chen’s “Ligeti Etudes meets 18 Composers” commissioning project. His work has been released on Eric Huckin’s album, Drifter, and Robert Fleitz’s album, Leaving a Room. Recently, he contributed the title track to Red Dog Ensemble’s debut album, Neon and Oak, and was a participant in the New Jersey Symphony’s Cone Institute. He won the 2016 Thailand International Composition Festival Competition and first place in the 2021 Symphonia Caritas Competition for first-generation college students. He holds an MM from Juilliard and an MFA and PhD from Princeton University, where he is a postdoc and teaches electronic music. His work can be found at tom-morrison.com.
Parker Ramsay’s career, unique in its integration of contemporary music and historical performance, defies easy categorization. Equally at home on modern and period harps, he pursues his passions in tackling new and underperformed works and bringing his instrument to new audiences. Recent and upcoming performances include solo performances at Alice Tully Hall, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, the Phillips Collection, Cal Performances, Shriver Hall, IRCAM, King’s College, Cambridge, the Spoleto Festival USA and the Center for the Art of Performing at UCLA. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was praised as “remarkably special” (Gramophone), “nuanced and insightful” (BBC Music Magazine), “relentlessly beautiful” (WQXR), and “marked by a keen musical intelligence” (Wall Street Journal). His last album, released in October 2022, features The Street, a new concert-length work for solo harp and text by Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman, which will tour with Mark Morris Dance Company in 2024. He has also collaborated with composers such as Marcos Balter, Saad Haddad, Josh Levine, Jared Miller and Sarah Kirkland Snider. Alongside gambist Arnie Tanimoto, Parker is co-director of A Golden Wire, a period instrument ensemble based in New York. As an organist, he has performed at Washington National Cathedral, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, St Thomas Church 5th Avenue, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has presented talks, performances, and lectures on period instruments at the Smithsonian Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has been published in VAN Magazine, Early Music America Magazine, The Washington Post and the The New York Times. Raised in Tennessee, Parker began harp studies with his mother, Carol McClure. He served as organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge before pursuing graduate studies at Oberlin at Juilliard. He has studied with Isabelle Perrin, Sivan Magen and Nancy Allen. In 2014, he was awarded first prize at the Sweelinck International Organ Competition. He lives in Paris.
Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works. Described as “tart and compelling” (The New York Times), “vivid” (The Washington Post), and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her work has been featured at the Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Library of Congress. Recent projects include commissions for the New York Philharmonic, a multimedia work for Grand Rapids Symphony, a solo electronics show at LA’s Monk Space, and a children’s interactive piece for Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). Nina is a PhD candidate in Music Composition at Princeton University. She is currently serving as Composer-in-Residence of The Crossing and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2023 – 2024 Sound Investment Composer. She recently joined the composition faculty of Mannes School of Music at The New School. She is a Civitella Ranieri Foundation Music Fellow and previously completed her tenure as Composer- in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. Nina is a first-generation Indian American and a native of Detroit, Michigan.
What is PSK?
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.
Program Notes
Tom Morrison
- As the Day Dissolves
- pereskiopsis
- In the Violet Sky
Parker Ramsay, harp
These first three pieces are part of a longtime collaboration with my dear friend and collaborator, Parker Ramsay. All the sounds in the electronics are live processed from his harp or are from recordings of previous projects we’ve worked on.
In the first and third movements of this program, As the Day Dissolves and In the Violet Sky, I explore the concept of space—both musically and mentally—I was having trouble achieving in some of my other recent music. I sought to create pieces that embodied spaciousness.
The second movement, pereskiopsis, is part of a series dedicated to cacti. pereskiposis specifically draws inspiration from the pereskiopsis cactus, known for its rapid growth and its role as a grafting stock for other cacti. The act of grafting not only results in a visually intriguing amalgamation but also accelerates the growth of the grafted cactus. While some musical materials in this piece are derived from my piece bridgesii, which also pays homage to a cactus, pereskiopsis takes a wholly different musical path.
- no way out but through
- Perpetual Motion Machine
- Train Dreams
Han Chen, piano
no way out but through was commissioned by Han Chen for his “Infinite Staircase” commissioning project. Han commissioned 18 composers to write pieces inspired by György Ligeti’s 18 Piano Etudes. In celebration of his stunning new recording of the etudes, Han played each of Ligeti’s etudes and the 18 commissioned works in one evening. Since the piece is so short and is still in Han’s fingers, I figured I’d share it here. no way out but through is a response to Ligeti’s fourth etude, Fanfares.
The title Perpetual Motion Machine is an inside joke, far too dumb for me to explain here. It is the only one of my pieces this evening that uses sounds that are not from either the piano or harp.
Train Dreams originally was a short piece for piano and electronics—this new version builds on that little piece. The title comes from Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name. While the jumping-off point of inspiration was Johnson’s book, the piece is also largely inspired by my late-night journeys on the Northeast Corridor.
Francisco del Pino
Anima
Soo Yeon Lyuh, haegeum
When Soo Yeon asked me to write a piece for her, I became obsessed with the idea of a piece that was not only ‘for’ but also ‘about’ her instrument—an instrument that, for me, was uncharted territory.
I thus set out to learn about the haegeum. I found out that the instrument is also called paleum—“eight sounds”—due to it being made using eight different materials (bamboo, clay, gourd, hide, metal, silk, stone, and wood). I also learned that the word haegeum has a second meaning: the lifting of a prohibition, the unlocking of something previously forbidden.
Anima is a study on the instrument’s many faces and also a meditation on our own inner voices and secrets. It is based on a seven-note tune using a ciphered version of the word ‘haegeum’: B, A, E, G, etc. I conceived this piece for a soloist with pre-recorded haegeums, but I wanted it to also function as an ensemble piece. As such, no effects have been added, no processing has been made to the backing tracks: all that sounds stands as it was played in real time.
Nina Shekhar
Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner
Nina Shekhar, voice, electronics, and video
(NB: This piece contains strobe effects and flashing lights. Light-sensitive audience members may exit the auditorium as necessary.)
I never truly felt like a woman growing up. Being brown, I was a woman in mind, form, soul, and ambition—but never in American societal perception. Being a focus of others’ desire felt impossible for me, so I thought I myself wasn’t allowed to desire.
The quote “hate the sin, love the sinner” is often taken out of context from its original meaning. Gandhi’s full quote from his 1929 autobiography is “Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.” If, as Gandhi writes, we are all “tarred with the same brush,” then what informs our moral judgments over another person’s identity?
As I slowly learn who I am, reclaiming my voice, body, spirit, sexuality, and agency doesn’t make me a sinner.It makes me human.
About
Pianist Han Chen has emerged among the new generation of concert pianists as a uniquely fearless performer in a wide variety of musical settings. Gold medalist at the 2013 China International Piano Competition and a prizewinner at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition, he has been praised by Gramophone as “impressively commanding and authoritative” and further cited by The New York Times for his “graceful touch,” “rhythmic precision” and “hypnotic charm.” Chen’s virtuosity is enriched by a probing commitment to new and lesser-known works as well as the great cornerstones of the piano repertory. This vision is clearly evident in his four solo Naxos CDs focusing on Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Thomas Adès, and more recently, the critically acclaimed György Ligeti’s Complete Piano Études. As soloist with orchestra, Chen’s appearances include the Calgary Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony, China Symphony and Xiamen Philharmonic. He made his Lincoln Center debut with Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in December 2022 performing Mozart’s early masterwork, the Piano Concerto No. 9 Le Jeunehomme. Chen has performed as solo recitalist throughout Europe, North America, and China. In frequent demand as a chamber musician, Chen is a core member of Ensemble Échappé while regularly collaborating with The Metropolis Ensemble and other adventurous groups in performances in America and abroad. In 2021, Chen launched Migration Music, an ongoing series of interviews and performances featuring immigrant composers. Han Chen has studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky, Wha Kyung Byun, and Ursula Oppens at The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and CUNY Graduate Center. He is represented by Black Tea Music.
Francisco del Pino is a Buenos Aires-born composer and guitarist with an affinity for music that is meticulous, expressive, and patient. Drawing influence from both classical and vernacular traditions, his work revolves around process and pattern and is usually characterized by an extensive use of counterpoint. Francisco’s debut album Decir, a song cycle on texts by Argentinian poet Victoria Cóccaro, was released on New Amsterdam in 2021. His music has been described as “sheer beauty” (Bandcamp Daily), “lucid, entrancing” (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN), and “ethereal, yet heavy, distinguished, yet humble—and always beautiful” (Classical Post). Francisco is a PhD candidate in the Music Department and a fellow in the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities.
Soo Yeon Lyuh is a composer, improviser, and master of the haegeum, a two-stringed Korean bowed instrument. Lyuh’s work strikes a balance between originality and tradition, borrowing and recontextualizing familiar gestures from Korean music. Her soundscape follows a logic of texture, pacing, feeling, and unexpected turns. 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 and is Korea’s foremost institution for the preservation of traditional music. She pushes herself not only to command a deep understanding of historical works, but also to negotiate challenging new ones: Lyuh’s interest in improvisational music draws on Korean traditions lost to generations of performers.
Tom Morrison is a composer, electronic musician, and educator. He has written for leading new music groups, including the Aizuri Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, Latitude49, Sō Percussion, Contemporaneous, Yarn/Wire, Albany Symphony’s new music chamber orchestra Dogs of Desire, and the New Jersey Symphony, among others. Recent projects include new electroacoustic works for Theo Van Dyck and Parker Ramsay and a contribution to Han Chen’s “Ligeti Etudes meets 18 Composers” commissioning project. His work has been released on Eric Huckin’s album, Drifter, and Robert Fleitz’s album, Leaving a Room. Recently, he contributed the title track to Red Dog Ensemble’s debut album, Neon and Oak, and was a participant in the New Jersey Symphony’s Cone Institute. He won the 2016 Thailand International Composition Festival Competition and first place in the 2021 Symphonia Caritas Competition for first-generation college students. He holds an MM from Juilliard and an MFA and PhD from Princeton University, where he is a postdoc and teaches electronic music. His work can be found at tom-morrison.com.
Parker Ramsay’s career, unique in its integration of contemporary music and historical performance, defies easy categorization. Equally at home on modern and period harps, he pursues his passions in tackling new and underperformed works and bringing his instrument to new audiences. Recent and upcoming performances include solo performances at Alice Tully Hall, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, the Phillips Collection, Cal Performances, Shriver Hall, IRCAM, King’s College, Cambridge, the Spoleto Festival USA and the Center for the Art of Performing at UCLA. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was praised as “remarkably special” (Gramophone), “nuanced and insightful” (BBC Music Magazine), “relentlessly beautiful” (WQXR), and “marked by a keen musical intelligence” (Wall Street Journal). His last album, released in October 2022, features The Street, a new concert-length work for solo harp and text by Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman, which will tour with Mark Morris Dance Company in 2024. He has also collaborated with composers such as Marcos Balter, Saad Haddad, Josh Levine, Jared Miller and Sarah Kirkland Snider. Alongside gambist Arnie Tanimoto, Parker is co-director of A Golden Wire, a period instrument ensemble based in New York. As an organist, he has performed at Washington National Cathedral, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, St Thomas Church 5th Avenue, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has presented talks, performances, and lectures on period instruments at the Smithsonian Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has been published in VAN Magazine, Early Music America Magazine, The Washington Post and the The New York Times. Raised in Tennessee, Parker began harp studies with his mother, Carol McClure. He served as organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge before pursuing graduate studies at Oberlin at Juilliard. He has studied with Isabelle Perrin, Sivan Magen and Nancy Allen. In 2014, he was awarded first prize at the Sweelinck International Organ Competition. He lives in Paris.
Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works. Described as “tart and compelling” (The New York Times), “vivid” (The Washington Post), and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her work has been featured at the Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Library of Congress. Recent projects include commissions for the New York Philharmonic, a multimedia work for Grand Rapids Symphony, a solo electronics show at LA’s Monk Space, and a children’s interactive piece for Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). Nina is a PhD candidate in Music Composition at Princeton University. She is currently serving as Composer-in-Residence of The Crossing and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2023 – 2024 Sound Investment Composer. She recently joined the composition faculty of Mannes School of Music at The New School. She is a Civitella Ranieri Foundation Music Fellow and previously completed her tenure as Composer- in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. Nina is a first-generation Indian American and a native of Detroit, Michigan.
What is PSK?
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.