In her words:
“I created this playlist and included both composers and performers that have inspired me. This is not an exhaustive list, just a cross section of tracks I found on Spotify!
“Composers: Violet Archer was my first composition teacher in Edmonton, Canada; Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Chen Yi were guests at Juilliard while I was a student and made an impression; I attended the Canadian Opera Company’s performance of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin and was blown away by the sound world of that opera; Charles Ives’s Symphony No. 4 is a masterpiece and inspired many pieces of mine.
“Performers: I just finished a trumpet concerto for the amazing trumpet player Mary Bowden; violinist Kristin Lee has inspired (and premiered) at least three works of mine; Barbara Hannigan and her performance of Alma Mahler’s songs are so exquisite (Barbara is also an inspiration); Cudamani is a wonderful gamelan collective that I studied with while in Bali many years ago and they are astounding; and finally, the folk singers from Yunnan have inspired some works of mine, including my Clarinet Quintet and my Yunnan Folk Songs.”
Stream Vivian’s Spotify playlist HERE.
Inspirations: Vivian Fung
Alma Mahler: Fünf Lieder: “Ich wandle unter Blumen,” performed by Barbara Hannigan
Kaija Saariaho: L’Amour de loin: First Act, Second Scene. Le Pѐlerin: “Peut-être bien qu’elle n’existe pas”
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 1 (Three Movements for Orchestra): First movement
Chen Yi: Sparkle, performed by Claire Heldrich
Vivian Fung: Violin Concerto from Dreamscapes, performed by Kristin Lee
Germaine Tailleferre: Rêverie, performed by the Kassia Ensemble and Mary Elizabeth Bowden
Sarah Kirkland Snider: Chrysalis, performed by the Kassia Ensemble and Mary Elizabeth Bowden
Charles Ives: Symphony No. 4: II. Comedy (Allegretto)
Violet Archer: Four Duets for Violin and Cello: No. 2, Restless
Cudamani: “What Really Happens at Rehearsal,” from Bamboo to Bronze
Lady Gaga: “Bad Romance”
Zuolimei (performer): “Wuyin shange” (Wuyin mountain song), from Baishibai: Songs of the Minority Nationalities of Yunnan
Bai Xiuzhen and Xiang Youfen (performers): “Wushanqiang” (Wushan melody), from Baishibai: Songs of the Minority Nationalities of Yunnan