Concert Program
From the Exotic to the Global Concert Series
Roaming In Between
2025 NIU World Music Festival
Avalon String Quartet
Greg Beyer, marimba
Ya-Ching Chang, violin
Hong Da Chin, dizi
William Goldenberg, piano
Wednesday, April 9
8 pm
NIU Recital Hall
Program
| Four Elements I. Water |
Chinary Ung (b. 1942) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gregory Beyer, marimba | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nahla Mattar (b. 1971) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Avalon String Quartet Blaise Magnière, violin, Richard O. Ryan Endowed Chair in Violin Marie Wang, violin Anthony Devroye, viola Cheng-Hou Lee, cello |
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| This work was commissioned in 2017 by Prince Abbas Helmi, Chair of Friends of Manial Palace Foundation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| INTERMISSION | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poem Recitation | Hong Da Chin (b. 1965) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hong Da Chin, dizi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hái-ang Painting Fantasy for violin and piano
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Ling-Huei Tsai (b. 1973) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ya-Ching Chang, violin William Goldenberg, piano |
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| The US premiere of this work is sponsored by the National Culture and Arts Foundation of Taiwan. The violin G. Gagliano used at the concert is provided by Chimei Foundation in Taiwan. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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About The Work
FOUR ELEMENTS
The concept of foundational elements is common in several ancient cultures, though the purpose of reducing the world into basic components varies widely. In some cultures this offered a metaphorical framework for grappling with the complexity of the universe. In others, there were proposed practical outcomes. In Cambodia, there were four basic elements: water, fire, earth, and wind, which were thought to be the basis for all natural structures, including the human body. Traditional healers believed that illness was a consequence of an imbalance of these elements, not unlike the theory of Humorism in ancient Greek medicine. The 12th century King Jayavarman VII built dozens of hospitals, the most prominent of which was Neak Pean, at Angkor. There, four pools, each representing one of the elements, were arranged around a central pool that featured an island, upon which a temple was built. The patient would be directed to soak in the pool that best corresponded to their particular ailment.
Encircling the base of the temple island were sculptures of giant, intertwined dragons, or naga, the fearsome protectors that appear in several Southeast Asian myths. This figure has long captured Chinary Ung’s imagination, and it has offered a point of reference for the use of vocalizations and instrumental performance featured in most of his work since the early 2000s.
Four Elements was commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University for a consortium of percussionists with extensive experience performing Ung’s music: Beverley Johnston, Greg Beyer, Lynn Vartan, and Steve Solook. It is dedicated to the memory of the New Zealand composer Jack Body (1944-2015), who had a deep appreciation for the musical traditions of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, in particular), and who was a dear friend and colleague of the composer.
ODE TO MANIAL is a string quartet with programmatic elements trying to narrate the story of the Prince Mohamed Ali Tawfik Pasha and his most beautiful Manial Palace. The Palace is an architecture point of meet the East with the West, so is its owner.
POEM RECITATION is inspired by Chinese poetry that has been an important part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. In this piece, the composer treated the dizi soloist as a poet that recites a poem and brings out the emotion and meaning of it. The poem the composer had in mind for this piece is the famous Thoughts on a Silent Night by Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai, in which he reflects on his homesickness.
HÁI-ANG PAINTING FANTASY A fantasia in three movements for violin and piano, consisting of 17 ancient songs carrying the life of a Paiwan person from cradle to grave. The performance includes multi-media presentation of oil paintings by Mr. King-Fa CHANG and Paiwan poem recitation.
Composer Bios
Chinary Ung
Chinary Ung is often associated with that group of Asian-born composers whose music incorporates aspects of eastern musical characteristics into a western classical music setting. Aside from specific cultural and generational distinctions, the principal difference between Ung’s work and theirs is that for many years he was prevented from engaging directly with the source of his cultural heritage as his native country was being torn apart by the scourge of the Khmer Rouge. Indeed, as the people and culture of Cambodia were being systematically destroyed, Ung took it upon himself to rescue some facet of the traditional music he had known as a child, reconstituting Cambodian musical traditions through his performances on the roneat-ek — the Cambodian xylophone. This project reflects the qualities of responsibility and of hopefulness that are so strongly a part of Ung’s personality.
Ung’s Cambodian roots are woven into the fabric of his identity, but the musical aspects are, as a result of his peculiar circumstance, keenly related to memory. For many years — through the late 1980’s — Ung’s music had a plaintive character in its modally-inflected, melodic behaviors, as if he were reaching back to another time uncorrupted by political tumult. Ung’s work of this period established him as a major figure in American music, winning citations from virtually every major musical arts institution in his adopted country. He was the first American composer to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, for Inner Voices. That work, along with the Spirals series indicates a self-referential artistic project where one seeks spiritual strength and inspiration through meditation and quiet contemplation, traits of Buddhist spiritual exercises. The Spirals series in particular shows an affinity for the connection between pieces.
By any measure, Chinary Ung is an astonishingly prolific composer, yet his focus is rarely turned inward. His role as a cultural leader and educator demonstrates a profound sense of responsibility to a broader cultural and societal context. Ung has worked with numerous institutions and individuals to share his dedication toward preserving Cambodian culture and forging cultural exchanges between Asia and the West. He was President of the Khmer Studies Institute in the U.S.A. between 1980-1985, and was an advisor for the Killing Fields Memorial and Cambodian Heritage Museum of Chicago and a member of the Cambodian-Thai cultural committee.
As an educator, Ung, following the example of his mentor, Chou Wen-chung, has taught courses in Southeast Asian music and has mentored generations of young composers at several institutions in the U.S. and Asia through a series of residencies. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, and he received a Honorary Doctor Degree from Northern Illinois University in 2024.
His music is featured on recordings released on Bridge, CAMBRIA, CRI, New World, Argo, and oodiscs, among others. Chinary Ung’s compositions are published exclusively by C.F. Peters Corporation and they are registered under BMI.
Nahla Mattar
Egyptian composer Nahla Mattar, chair of Theory & Composition Department at Helwan University in Egypt and former director of the Umm Kulthum Museum in Cairo, received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from Arizona State University. She has received recent commissions, awards, and recordings for her compositions “Three,” a trio for cello, bass clarinet, and piano; “A River inside us Running,” a string quartet celebrating the river Nile; and “Al Ain,” an orchestral work recently released on the Naxos label. Her op. 10 no.4, for voice and piano on colloquial Egyptian Arabic was just performed at the Engender festival, Royal Opera House in London, July 2021. In Nov. 2021, her flute and contrabass op. 17 no. 1, Waltzes from the Old Testament were premiered in the Festival de Música Erudita do Espírito Santo, Brazil. When setting the Arabic language to music, she seeks to explore how pronunciation and meaning can create spiritual musical journeys. https://maestramattar.wixsite.com/composer
Hong-Da Chin
Originally from Kajang, Malaysia, Hong-Da Chin explores multiculturalism and diversity. He incorporates cultural elements from the Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures from Malaysia into his music. Being a Chinese flutist of the Chinese orchestra at his high school, he was invited to perform with gamelan groups and Indian traditional ensembles at cultural and political events. Exposure to traditional Malaysian musics instilled the importance of diversity in his creative output.
Chin’s music has been performed in the US, Germany, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Austria, Poland, Israel, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. The ensembles and performers include the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej (Poland), Bowling Green Philharmonia, Bel Canto Trio, Karr and Mattingly Duo, Altered Sound Duo, Vive Ensemble, Ogni Suono, Patchwork, and Orlando Cela.
The festivals and residencies where his music has been performed include Spoleto Festival USA, World Saxophone Congress, Asian Composers League Festival and Conference, Bowling Green New Music Festival, NEOSonic Festival, Threshold Festival, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Rasquache Artist Residency and Avaloch Farm Institute.
In addition to his work as a composer he is a (Western) flutist and an accomplished Chinese flutist specializing in contemporary music. He is currently in the faculty of School of Music in Western Illinois University, teaching music theory and music composition.
Ling-Huei Tsai
Ling-Huei Tsai, a Taiwanese composer and music professor at Taipei National University of the Arts, has won major awards, including Yale University’s Best Music Drama (1998) and Taiwan’s Golden Melody Award (2019). Her works are widely performed. She is the president of Taiwan Yale Ensemble and chairs the Taiwan Composers Association, a national committee of the Asian Composers League.
Performer Bios
Gregory Beyer
Gregory Beyer, Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Northern Illinois University, Fulbright scholar, composer, educator and “prodigiously talented percussionist” (Chicago Classical Review), Gregory Beyer is a contemporary music specialist who blends the disciplines of orchestral, jazz and world music into a singular artistic voice.
He is artistic director of Arcomusical, an organization dedicated to the Afro-Brazilian berimbau. Arcomusical released its first album, MeiaMeia, in 2016 on Innova Recordings and has subsequently appeared on WNYC, WBEZ and NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. Arcomusical received a 2016 Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant to create the 22-minute, four-movement “Roda” with composer Elliot Cole. “Roda” has received over two dozen performances and most recently was performed as a concerto with the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra as “Roda Grande.” In March 2019 on National Sawdust Tracks, Arcomusical released its second album, Spinning in the Wheel.
Professor Beyer is the director of Percussion Studies where he directs the New Music Ensemble and New Music Festival, the Latin Jazz Ensemble, and co-directs the award-winning Percussion Ensemble with his colleague Ben Wahlund. A strong advocate for new music, he is a core member of two Chicago-based new music ensembles: Dal Niente and the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition Grossman Ensemble.
Beyer has held long-term visiting scholar appointments at universities in China and Brazil. He is capable of developing a rapport with anyone in the world and sees the art of percussion as a vehicle for intercultural understanding and the betterment of society through a commitment to daily work and personal growth. He demands the very best out of each student and is committed to offering life-changing experiences through the realization of a student’s inner potential.
Avalon String Quartet
The Avalon String Quartet has performed in major venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St Y, Merkin Hall, and Bargemusic in New York; the Library of Congress and National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; Wigmore Hall in London; and Herculessaal in Munich. Other performances include appearances at the Bath International Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Caramoor, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, NPR’s St. Paul Sunday, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Dame Myra Hess Concerts, Los Angeles Music Guild, and the Ravinia Festival. The quartet is performing the complete Beethoven Cycle for Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary Celebration at its concert series in historic Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University. In recent seasons, the Avalon presented the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven, Bartok, and Brahms at Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Avalon is quartet-in-residence at the Northern Illinois University School of Music, a position formerly held by the Vermeer Quartet. Additional teaching activities have included the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Institute, Interlochen Advanced Quartet Program, Madeline Island Music Camp, and the Britten-Pears School in England, as well as masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the United States. Additionally, they have given numerous performances and presentations to young audiences in under-resourced schools and communities.
For detailed bio info for Blaise Magnière, violin; Marie Wang, violin; Anthony Devroye, viola; and Cheng-Hou Lee, cello, please visit https://www.niu.edu/music/faculty
Ya-Ching Chang
Ya-Ching Chang is a violinist from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She is the winner of InterContinental Music Awards, Global Music Awards, and Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music. Chang studied under Michele Auclair at the New England Conservatory to earn a Master of Music in Violin Performance. A dedicated, passionate performer, she has received countless awards for her work in Taiwan and United States, such as first prize at the Concerto Competition in Maryland, first prize at Concerto Competition of Taipei Symphony Orchestra. She has been an active violinist and served as a faculty member in National Taiwan University of Arts and National Pingtung University. Her albums include: “Hái-ang Paint – Ya Ching Chang Violin Album,” won Best Fusion Album and Best Arrangement at the Golden Melody Award (GMA, 2019) for Traditional Arts and Music in Taiwan. The album “Hái-ang Paint II” won the Silver Medal Award as contemporary music at the GMA (2023). The album “BEETHOVEN The Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin,” won the Silver Medal Award as Best Instrumentalist also at the GMA (2024) in Taiwan. The “Hái-ang Paint” won the Best Instrumentalist at the InterContinental Music Award (2024).
Influenced by her painter father, King-Fa Chang, Ya-Ching Chang has become fond of Taiwanese music in recent years, traveling all over Taiwan to record the traditional folk music of various ethnic groups so as to preserve it, arrange for violin music, and promote it to an international audience.
William Goldenberg
William Goldenberg, D.M., Distinguished Teaching Professor and Head of Keyboard Studies, has performed over 1,000 concerts worldwide as soloist and chamber musician. Concert tours have taken him throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Australia/New Zealand, including such venues as Tanglewood; the Shanghai Concert Hall; Washington’s Smithsonian Institution; Chicago’s Symphony Center, Art Institute and Dame Myra Hess Series; Paris’ Les Arts George V Series; Italy’s Settimane Pianistiche Internazionali festival; the Grand Teton Music Festival; and numerous universities such as Cambridge University and the University of Chicago. Concert sponsors have included the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Council England, Consulate General of France, Consulate General of Germany, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, New York State Council on the Arts and Kansas City Symphony, among others.
Frequently invited to guest teach at other institutions such as the Shanghai Conservatory, Indiana University-Bloomington, Budapest’s Liszt Academy and the University of Melbourne, he is currently Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair of Piano at Northern Illinois University. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda, he has won several research grants and published for Clavier. Goldenberg earned the doctorate from Indiana University where he was appointed personal assistant to Menahem Pressler, the master’s degree from Juilliard on fellowship with Martin Canin and Rosina Lhevinne and a B.A. in music and mathematics on a National Merit Scholarship at Oberlin. Advanced studies also included chamber music with Felix Galimir, Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian, as well as contemporary music with Gilbert Kalish and Charles Rosen.
Goldenberg’s rare breadth and depth of artistry encompasses performances with many prominent artists, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Concertmaster and Grammy winner Igor Gruppman, Berlin Philharmonic Solo Clarinetist Karl Leister, Boston Symphony Principal Flutist Doriot Dwyer, Boston Symphony Principal Clarinetist William Hudgins, the Vermeer Quartet and Berlin Deutsche Oper Soprano Amanda Halgrimson. His extensive collaborative experience also includes appearances for Chamber Music Chicago, Maine’s Bay Chamber Concerts, The Lake Placid Chamber Players and California’s Idyllwild Arts Festival. An advocate of contemporary repertoire who has given numerous world premieres, he collaborated with leading composers such as Pulitzer Prize winner Shulamit Ran, MacArthur Fellow Ralph Shapey, Larry Austin, Joyce Mekeel, Hugo Weisgall, Wang Luo Bin and Wang Jian Zhong. Goldenberg has recorded sonatas with Vermeer Quartet violinist Pierre Menard, composer Oscar Haugland’s Door County Suite and Petite Suite for My Grandchildren for piano and Songs and Chamber Music for Centaur. The Kansas City Star wrote that he played “with a fiery, rhapsodic commitment that exactly fitted the character of the music” and that he “captured the restraint and delicacy of the music as well as its impetuous abandon.” Of a Joyce Mekeel world premiere, the New York Times wrote that “the work was performed splendidly under trying conditions…” and “caught the ear and imagination and held them.”