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House Music Ep 107: Impromptuo Duo
04:40

House Music Ep 107: Impromptuo Duo

Violinist Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and pianist Joey Chang have known each other since their undergraduate days at The Juilliard School, but it wasn’t until 2019 that they connected on their current passion—free improvisation. Chang had gotten into improvisation much earlier than Lim, but when Lim started to become intrigued by improvisation, the two musicians began to jam together. From those low-key sessions, their duo, Impromptuo, was born. For the House Music series, they present an improvisation titled Some Etude. Both musicians have collaborated with Metropolis in the past, and each have presented a solo House Music series video. But as a duo, they share one special memory of Metropolis: In October 2020, they presented a series of improvisations alongside animations by the artist Marie Lavis as part of Free Assembly, Metropolis’s debut digital festival. Since that performance, they’ve continued to explore the possibilities of musical improvisation and animation, and even continued working with Lavis. Some Etude, which they recorded at Chang’s apartment, taps into the duo’s humorous side. They don’t take themselves too seriously in general, they’d rather make music that’s lighthearted and exploratory. Some Etude was born from ideas they’d been floating around for a while, and even takes some inspiration from a Lady Gaga-type bass line. And in addition to their House Music performance, the two are excited to begin working on improvisation with multi-instrumentalist and MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey as part of the Ensemble Forward program at Chamber Music America. -- Vanessa Ague
Bartók’s String Quartet No. 1 | Juilliard Ronald Copes & Astrid Schween Music Master Class
37:51

Bartók’s String Quartet No. 1 | Juilliard Ronald Copes & Astrid Schween Music Master Class

Juilliard students perform Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 7, Sz. 40 as part of a master class with Juilliard String Quartet's Ronald Copes and Astrid Schween. The class was recorded live at Juilliard on December 18, 2018. Learn more about future live-streamed master classes at http://www.juilliard.edu/live. Featured in this master class: Mary Grace Johnson, Violin Katherine Lim, Violin Hannah Burnett, Viola Iona Batchelder, Cello Juilliard’s String Department is the largest department within the Music Division, representing about one-third of its total student enrollment. At the heart of the department is a distinguished faculty that includes internationally acclaimed soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, and leading pedagogues, as well as the world-renowned Juilliard String Quartet. The study of music is a time-honored tradition of art passed from seasoned artist to student. At Juilliard you will learn to interpret music of any period — to nurture it, refine it, give it life, and make it your own. Complementing your work with your primary teacher will be collaborative experiences in chamber music and large ensembles, not only with other musicians, but also with the school’s talented dancers and actors. And you will share your art with enthusiastic audiences at Juilliard, at other renowned venues in New York City and around the world. Attend a Juilliard event: http://juilliard.edu/calendar Visit The Juilliard Store: http://www.thejuilliardstore.com Belong to something brilliant: http://www.juilliard.edu/we Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJuilliard... Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuilliardSchool Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/juilliardschool
House Music Ep 66 Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and Kalia Vandever
06:07

House Music Ep 66 Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and Kalia Vandever

Written by composer Kalia Vandever for violinist and improviser Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim, Sitting With It gets its world premiere in this House Music Series video. It’s a serene piece that gradually builds momentum through the layering of full-bodied, reverberant tones. In this performance, we see Lim stationed at her desk, powerfully bowing her violin and delicately patching each of the vivid layers together. Lim proposed to Metropolis Ensemble developing a new commission from Vandever specifically for the House Music Series after being asked to perform a solo for the series. It was a natural progression for the two friends to work together; when composing for Lim, Vandever wrote especially for her strengths as both a violinist and improviser, following the guidelines Lim gave her to compose for violin and electronics. The piece is written for violin and looping pedal, gently stacking radiant bowed pitches and melodies on top of each other to create a warm, atmospheric piece of music. This video is Lim’s second collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble (her first was for Metropolis Ensemble’s 2020 digital festival, Free Assembly, improvising over Marie Lavis’ original animations with pianist Joey Chang) and Vandever’s second instalment in the House Music Series (her first video came out this past July and featured a performance of her own composition Everpress for trombone). The music came together entirely in the virtual realm—they workshopped the piece together on Zoom, bringing each of the colorful moments of the work to life. — Vanessa Ague
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