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The Chicago Composers Consortium returns to the Floating Lounge this May for a sneak peak at two new pieces written for us by composers Kyong Mee Choi and Timothy Ernest Johnson.
Kyong Mee Choi
Timothy Ernest Johnson
You may recall that our concert featuring the premiere of Bernard Rands’ new string quartet – and the Consortium member’s miniatures that were written in response to it – was an early casualty of the pandemic. So it is with great pleasure that we offer you these interactive listening parties during which we’ll perform excerpts of each of these new works in pairs and get a chance to look inside them with the composers.
We’ll kick things off by having Kyong Mee and Tim play recordings of some of their previous works, so we can all immerse ourselves in their respective sound worlds before hearing about the challenges and unexpected felicities around reacting sonically to another composer’s piece. Then, we’ll perform excerpts of both for you, giving you the opportunity to not only hear about the music, but actually hear the music.
The Floating Lounge is a community-focused, online listening party series produced by Spektral Quartet to bring curious listeners together during a time of isolation. Events feature high-quality streaming audio, special guests, and an interactive format that invites listeners to join in on the conversation.
ABOUT KYONG MEE CHOI
Kyong Mee Choi, composer, organist, painter, poet, and visual artist, received several prestigious awards and grants including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Robert Helps Prize, Aaron Copland Award, John Donald Robb Musical Trust Fund Commission, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, First prize of ASCAP/SEAMUS Award, Second prize at VI Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo among others. Her music was published at Ablaze, CIMESP (São Paulo, Brazil), SCI, EMS, ERM media, SEAMUS, and Détonants Voyages (Studio Forum, France). She is the Head of Music Composition at Roosevelt University in Chicago where she teaches composition and electro-acoustic music. Samples of her works are available at http://www.kyongmeechoi.com.
ABOUT TIMOTHY ERNEST JOHNSON
The music of Chicago composer Tim Johnson has been performed internationally by some of the world’s best musicians including Winston Choi, the Pianissimo, Victor Castro, Ensemble Mise-en, Ensemble Paramirabo, Quintet Attacca, Spektral Quartet, Due East, and Ensemble Dal Niente. Johnson’s composition teachers include Dominick Argento, William Brooks, Zack Browning, Warren Burt, Robert Crane, Stephen Dembski, Jason Eckhardt, Guy Garnett, Alex Lubet, Erik Lund, Joel Naumann, Heinrich Taube, Scott Wyatt, Lloyd Ultan, and Judith Zaimont, as well as ad hoc work with Herbert Brün, Chou Wen Chung, Vinko Globokar, Ben Johnston, John Harbison, Andrew Imbrie, Tristan Murail, and Larry Polansky. Johnson has received numerous awards, including Finalist in the Alea III competition for his composition “Kasparov vs Deep Blue”, based on one of the famous chess games from the original tournament. In electronic and computer music, Johnson has distinguished himself with intriguing works that often involve virtual instruments, algorithmics and microtonality. As a classical guitarist, Johnson has performed recitals in North America, Europe and Asia, premiered numerous works, and made two Brazilian jazz recordings with the group Desafinado. As a violist, Johnson performed with the Lakeshore Symphony Orchestra for four seasons. Johnson is also a noted researcher in microtonality, and spent several years helping the Kepler String Quartet record Ben Johnston’s music.
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