Premiere: Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Sunday, April 15, 2007, 3:00 pm
For two female voices, violin, cello
double bass, piano and percussion
Commissioned by the Carnegie Hall Corporation a part of the Osvaldo Golijov/Dawn Upshaw Professional Training Workshop, and premiered on April 15, 2007 in the Osvaldo Golijov/Dawn Upshaw Young Artists Concert at Carnegie Hall. It was also a featured composition at the Bard College-Conservatory of Music performance in Olin Hall on April 11, 2007. (Both performed by soprano Chanel Wood and Yulia Van Doren with the Young Concert Artist ensemble)
Composer's note: As we grow older, we begin to lose touch with our childhood friends. The friends that we make as a grown up are not the same as the ones we had as a child. It is not the same quality...some how we've lost that simple, innocent nature that was present in our younger years. These pieces are some memories, of the three most unforgettable characters in my life.
* * * * * * * *
I moved from Hong Kong to the United States with my family when I was nine. I am an only child, and I was going to lose all of my friends.
I felt frustrated, and sad.
The first day when I attended my neighborhood school in Huntington Beach, California, I was completely lost. I didn't understand a word during class. I didn't speak with anyone, because I couldn't. I sat on the playground and looked at the sky; the sky was gray and smoky. I started to cry.
Then, you came into my life, and then you, and then you.
We grew up together, learned from each other and shared our lives close together.
We have matured to be 100% women.
I have nicknames for you three, Sun, Moon, and Star,
Did I tell you that before?
Oh Star
Twinkle
You teach me how to love
How to sparkle
How to twinkle
You make the sky blue
When there is rain
When there are storms
Breaking in our lives-
“Just feel. Relax
Please stay calm
and see how life will shape.”
If love
Is love-
No hesitation
Keep bright
Keep shining
Be sure that he can see you
“Should there be any questions?
You are the only answer.”
So near
So far
Twinkle little star
Oh moon
All the nights
Lessons on the phone-
How to dress up
How to make up
And how to speak tenderly
And if I recall
And when I recall
All those happy nights
(Plus your sweetness)
It is a great gift
You turn
Your face
Life has many fashions-
Be proud
Be sad
It is not the same old story.
“Because we are not the same,
We are unique from them all.”
You shine on me
Smile, in my dreams
Oh sun
Sure will
You give me my strength
To be brave
Generous
Those good things
You tell me
not to hesitate
When there are problems
and frustration
Never retreat-
“Just to do it,
with all you can-
And life will be okay.”
You burn
Yourself
To light up our lives
So bright
So warm
We show our own glory.
“Should there be any complaints?
There should be few regrets.”
Life is a festival
Because
Of you
Because
Of you
of you
of you
of you (p.s. which one are you?)