simon hutchinson

Some of you might have noticed that I have a rather large amount of upcoming concerts. I’m rather surprised by this myself. It seems that a number of my projects have come together at the same time. I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked, since this is how things tend to work when one is in an academic program.

This summer, I’ll be traveling back to Japan to study shamisen, shakuhachi, and hopefully start to learn a bit of nohkan (transverse flute). I don’t have any concerts planned for when I’m out there, so these concerts will most likely be my last until next September, at the very least, my last in the US.

Anyway, here’s the list:

Tonight! In Pittsburgh, The The Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble with premiere my piece, “fuurin” for flute and trumpet.

This Sunday!, Katherine Price will premiere my piece “Sea Lily” for unaccompanied soprano as part of the Oregon Composers Forum / UO Vocal Department Unaccompanied Workshop Premieres.

May 1st, I will share some of my fixed media collaborations, and possibly a sneak peak at my new piece, “Koryphaios” for alto flute and electronics at the mysterious [m] concert.

May 2nd, Tara Schwab will premiere “Koryphaios” for alto flute and electronics at the Future Music Oregon / Molly Barth’s Flute Studio Concert.

May 5th is a very special concert, involving performers Yusun Kim and Hyerim Choi who are coming from South Korea to join the TaiHei Ensemble in an evening of premieres, including my pieces “PulseStream” for ajaeang and electronics and “Diaspora” for alto sax and gayageum.

May 8th is the Future Music Oregon Concert, where I will perform my piece “Requiem” for shamisen and electronics.

May 10th, I will be performing shamisen again with renown cellist Ronald Feldman, premiering my new duet for shamisen and cello (title pending).

May 11th, last but not least, my piece “Umagata” for flute and guitar will be performed at the Oregon Composers Forum spring concert.

I hope to see some of you a these performances.

After that, it’s a full summer of studying Japanese music, revising scores, and sending pieces off to competitions!

On the advice of my friends and colleagues and inspired by my peers, I’m looking into expanding my web presence. Check back here soon for an updated page layout and design!

In the meantime, I’ve created myself a facebook page:

As well as one for the TaiHei Ensemble

I’m still getting the hang of posting events and content. So please bear with me as I figure everything out.

Also, those of you in Eugene, don’t miss the premiere of my piece “On a March Day” performed by Annie Reser this Tuesday. More details here!

Here’s another video and another sneak peak of my concert at Bates College next week. Chris has created this video and the hatsuyuki video as a paired set, and the motivic similarities are immediately apparent (are the similarities in the musical content of the pieces!).

(This piece exists in a live version too)

Gwangpunge deollin ewha omyeo gamyeo nalidaga
Gajie motoreugo geomijule geolligeoda
Jeo geomi nakhwain jul moreugo nabi jabdeut hareonda.

Falling pear-blossoms whirl madly about in the wind,
Unable to return to the tree; they are caught in spiders’ webs
And those spiders pounce on them, thinking they are butterflies.

Yi Chongbo (1693-1766)

Last Saturday’s Future Music Oregon concert saw the premiere of my piece “21st-Century Matsuri” for 8-channel fixed media. I was in charge of putting together the programs for that concert, however, and unfortunately I somehow managed to do everything perfectly except for the title of my piece (a problem that I seem to often have when using old documents as a template).

Anyway, this piece is another about Japanese Festivals (like “hayashi”), but a little bit more more introspective. See the program notes:

Some of my favorite experiences when I visit Japan are the local festivals. These matsuri are wonderful displays of community through music and dance that do not really have analogs in modern US culture. Despite my love of these festivals, though, I often have a great sense of alienation when I attend, because, at a matsuri, I begin to feel my own “foreignness” more acutely than at any other time, as I am often alone in groups of hundreds from the local community.

Thinking about this tension, I composed this piece, 21-st Century Matsuri, as a kind of electronic concerto, playing with this interaction of the individual and society.

21st-Century Matsuri

I’m going to be presenting a concert of my music, both electronic and acoustic, at my alma mater, Bates College next month. Thinking about the venue, I decided that the performance of my fixed-media pieces could be enhanced by adding a video component, so I enlisted the talents of fellow Bates alum Chris Hoover. Here is one of the videos that he created, and that will be presented at the concert next month, “hatsuyuki”

right-click here to download iPhone-ready video

This piece is based on a text by Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). The text, “hatsuyuki ya suisen no ha no tawamu made,” translates to: “First snow, daffodilsʼ leaves, until bending.” (meaning: “The first snow is just enough to bend the leaves of the daffodils.”)

The inspiration for the visual portion of this piece draws directly from the first word of the text, hatsuyuki. When the first snow falls, it often melts on impact with the ground – still warm with the very last of the late-fall sun’s energy. The first snow marks a discrete transition between two seasons, made palpable in this film by the constant motion of the clouds in the background and quick jump-cuts between the cold weather outdoors and a man wearing a scarf and keeping warm indoors.

panoramic photo by Jon Bellona
click for larger view

A few weeks ago, November 19th-22nd, I had an opportunity to work with Wayne Vitale from Gamelan Sekar Jaya in tuning the University of Oregon Gamelan. This was an incredible unique experience and, though there were a few repetitive tasks, really educational in both in regard to the gamelan and to the physics of sound in general. I came out of the weekend with a number of ideas to explore in future compositions.

Anyway, we spent a lot of time doing repairs to the mallets, resonators, and wood of the instruments, and, as you’re probably imagining, we accomplished the “tuning” by carefully applying angle grinders to the bronze keys and pots of the instrument.

Last Saturday was the TaiHei Ensemble Concert, our Pacific-Rim ensemble. I realized the day of the concert, but every single piece on the program had some degree of improvisation to it, though that improvisation came in many different forms.

Anyway, I highly recommend that you give it a listen. I’ve posted the MP3s on the TaiHei Ensemble Site on the media page. It’s a great ensemble, this concert was four performers: shamisen, percussion/trumpet, saxophone/hulusi, and tuba… I don’t know how many other people can claim they played in a quartet for shami, trumpet, sax, and tuba.