Yu-Hui is returning to University of Utah for the second time as a Maurice Abravanel Visiting Distinguished Composer. During her residency (Feb. 26-27, 2018), she will give a public lecture and several masterclasses. Her Shadow Chase will also be featured in a public concert performed by Canyonlands Ensemble and Ulysses Quartet at the Dumke Recital Hall in the School of Music’s David Gardner Hall, along with works by Reich, Davidovsky, Ligeti, and Stravinsky. Following the residency, Ulysses will bring Shadow Chase to New Orleans as part of the Louis Moreau Institute concert series in March.
The Innovation Series is a large annual event presented by the National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, that showcases groundbreaking performances in contemporary theater, dance, and music. Yu-Hui was excited to be part of the 2017 series’ unique music theater project – “The Pilgrimage”, which took place between 9/29-10/1 at the Experimental Theater. Directed by composer Ching-Wen Chao and theater director Ding-Yun Huang, “The Pilgrimage”, a multi-media feast, combines music written by seven composers (including Yu-Hui & Chao, plus Chia-Lin Pan, Shih-Hui Chen, Yi-Chen Chen, Mei-Fang Lin, and Mu-Xuan Lin), and a crew specializing in mechanical, lighting, sound, and stage design. Performed by a group of singers, children’s choir, 2 percussionists (Aiyun Huang and Yung-Chih Hsueh) and 2 pianists, it tells the story of political conflicts and cultural convergence in recent Taiwanese history.
In addition to The Pilgrimage, this year’s Innovation Series featured a concert by the Morgenstern Trio and clarinetist Nina Janssen-Deinzer from Germany, and a collective composing project that gathered musicians from Central Asia and Taiwan in a weeklong workshop and performance.
After six years, Yu-Hui again returned to Composers Conference at Wellesley as a guest composer this summer. She enjoyed exchanging ideas with ten very talented composer fellows, along with Mario Davidovsky, the conference director. Intersect was also performed during Yu-Hui’s Conversation and Concert on July 27th, 2017, by conductor James Baker and the top-notch Conference Ensemble.
The American Academy of Arts and Letters has awarded Yu-Hui an Arts and Letters Award in Music, which “honors outstanding artistic achievement and acknowledges the composer who has arrived at his or her own voice.” Other recipients of this award this year are Lisa Bielawa, Jan Krzywicki, and Andrew Norman.
Yu-Hui and the Lydian String Quartet are invited by the Taipei National University of the Arts for a two-week residency in December 2016. Collectively they will give multiple workshops, lectures and masterclasses. Also included in this residency are Lydian’s two public concerts at TNUA. The 12/9 concert showcases Lydian’s contemporary repertoire, including Lee Hyla’s String Quartet No. 3, Philip Glass’ String Quartet No. 5, Chiu-Yu Chou’s String Quartet No. 1, and Yu-Hui’s new work “Mind Like Water.” The second concert on 12/17 is a mixture of old and new, including Mozart’s “Dissonance” String Quartet, Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, Steven Snowden’s “Appalachian Polaroids”, and Brahms’s String Quintet No. 2 (with TNUA’s viola professor Yi-Wen Chao.)
In addition to music making, Yu-Hui is excited to show the Lydian the fantastic food scene in Taipei.
In summer 2016, Yu-Hui will serve as the inaugural composer of the Composers NOW Project at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. “The goal of Composers NOW is to integrate music that is being written in our time, into the fabric of the music-making at Kneisel Hall,” Interim Artistic Director Laurie Smukler, “The study of contemporary music should be (and now will be) a piece of the young artists’ experience as the performers of the future. To do this is truly to become involved, articulate and invested in the music of their time.” Yu-Hui will be on campus from July 13th – 16th, giving open rehearsals with the talented young artists that will perform Yu-Hui’s At the Brink of the Chill (for violin, viola, cello, double bass, and piano) on July 16th at Kneisel Hall, Blue Hill, ME.
Yu-Hui, along with composer Erin Gee, will be the featured composer in the 2016 nienteForte Contemporary Music Festival. Taking place between March 14-17, 2016, in Tulane University, nF 2016 also hosts ECCE as the featured ensemble. Together there will be roundtable discussion and several concerts at the Dixon Recital Hall Annex. See nF 2016’s website for more detail.
“A Long Overdue Sequel” was premiered by percussionist Robert Schulz in a concert celebrating composer Eric Chasalow’s 60th birthday. Check out the video!
A new CD by Lydian String Quartet‘s 1st violinist, Daniel Stepner, has been released by the Centaur Records. This album, titled Music at Brandeis, features works for violin and piano by several past and current Brandeis composers, including Yu-Hui’s Worries Just As Real. Also in the album are Harold Shapero and Irving Fine’s sonatas, Yehudi Wyner’s Concert Duo, and David Rakowski’s Pied-à-terre. Joining Stepner on the piano are Sally Pinkas, Yehudi Wyner, and Donald Berman. Worries Just As Real was commissioned by the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center (now National Theater and Concert Hall) in Taipei, Taiwan, for violinist Henry Tong.
On November 24-25, Yu-Hui was featured as the Maurice Abravanel Visiting Distinguished Composer at the University of Utah. During the residency, she gave two public lectures and several private composition sessions. She also enjoyed the hospitality of the School of Music’s faculty and the breathtaking view of the Rockies. In the evening on November 24, the Canyonlands New Music Ensemble presented two of her compositions, Flicker and Worries Just As Real, alongside with music by Kurtág, Kagel, Berio and Xenakis.
Award-winning composer Yu-Hui Chang has written a wide range of music that compels and resonates with professional musicians and audiences alike.
Her music is characterized by energy, precision, ingenious effects, and vibrant colors – all in the pursuit of a deep connection with humanity. She strives to break through cultural and stylistic boundaries, and to take an inclusive view of musical diversity. This attitude is manifested in the multifaceted quality of her compositional output, and the stylistic fluidity in her writing.
The Innovation Series is a large annual event presented by 
In summer 2016, Yu-Hui will serve as the inaugural composer of the Composers NOW Project at the 
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