Chong
Kee Yong, one of Malaysia's leading contemporary music composer,
is one of the most exciting voices in new music today. Few composers
can manage to fashion a truly individual sound from the experimental
techniques of today, and Chong belongs to this special class
of talents who can turn a melange of exquisite timbres into
a compelling piece of music with his own fingerprints. Composer
Peter Eötvös calls his music "imaginative and
poetic" while Belgian pianists Jan Michiels and Inge Spinette
describe his music as "very personal voice, very deep and
convincing."
His musical language embraces not only a rich palette of constantly
expanding instrumental colours - and Chong never stops looking
for new ones - but is also unafraid to dig into the past traditions
with its lyricism, rhythmic vitality and tonality and work it
into his austere contemporary language, which is enriched by
his own Chinese as well as the multicultural Malaysian heritage.
For example you can find traces of Beijing Opera and Gamelan
in his Monodrama for Oboe, Ensemble and Electronics (2004),
hints of kabuki and Asian funeral rituals in his devastatingly
moving symphonic work Tearless Moon (2006), and elements
of calligraphy in his poetic I Hear The Wind Calling (2003).
Shui.Mo Concerto For 4 Chinese Instruments
(2008)
Reaching deeper into his Chinese roots, Chong
also explores the sonic possibilities of traditional Chinese
instruments in his Metamorphosis VI - Wind Prayer for
Sheng, Gu Zheng, Pipa and Ensemble. It is a growing artistic
path for Chong that has led to numerous commissions in this
vein, leading up to his most recent masterpiece Shui.Mo,
a concerto for 4 Chinese instruments and orchestra premiered
in venues around Belgium in January 2008.
Chong began music studies at the Malaysian Institute of Arts,
subsequently doing his Bachelor of Arts in China with Prof Rao
Yuyan and Prof Zhang Dalong at the Xian Conservatory. In 2001
Chong received his Master of Composition with the Highest Honours
from the Royal Flemish Conservatory under the guidance of Prof
Jan Van Landeghem and Prof Daniel Capelletti.
His
post graduation studies include numerous composition master-classes
with Brian Ferneyhough, Daan Manneke, Peter Eötvös,
Salvatore Sciarrino, Henri Pousseur, Hanspeter Kyburz and many
others.
Chong's distinctive style has won him an unending series of
awards and commissions, from his first success in Belgium with
the “Prix Marcel Hastir” awarded by Belgium Royal
Academy of Sciences, Letters & Fine-arts (1999, and then
in 2003) to his triumphant debut in his home country at the
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra International Composers' Award
(MPOICA) 2004.
Chong most recently won the BMW Prize at the inaugural Isang
Yun Competition in Seoul 2007 and 2nd Prize at
the Intersonanzen Brandenburgisches Fest der Neuen Musik 2008
in Berlin.
Full Orchestra
Shui.Mo concerto for 4 Chinese instruments
and orchestra (2008)
Tearless Moon (2006)
Timeless Metamorphosis (2005)
Ravage of time for violin solo and orchestra
(2005)
The Starry Night's Ripples (2003)
Chamber Orchestra
Splattered Landscape III for five instrumental
groups (2007)
Splattered landscape II - Cloud's echoing (2007)
Ocean's Pulse for 4 Chinese drummers,
Dizi & chamber orchestra (2007)
Hidden Eternity (In memorial of Gyorgy Ligeti) for
4-hands piano and chamber orch (2006)
I Hear The Wind Calling (2003)
Monodrama for Oboe, ensemble & live
electronics(2004)
Chamber Group with Chinese Instruments
Phoenix Calling for Sheng and ensemble
(2008)
Horizon's chants for Sheng, Koto &
Gayageum (2007)
Metamorphosis VIII for Sheng, Flute, Oboe,
Clarinet and Double bass (2008)
Endless Whispering for Sheng, Flute, Clarinet
and Tuba (2006)
Metamorphosis VI Wind prayer (2004)
ChamberGroup
Metamorphosis VII - Voiceless Echo for
Clarinet quartet (2006)
Mourning the murder of an old Banyan tree
for ensemble (2004)
Epitaphe sans mots for Piano Trio (2003)
Kong Shan (Hollow mountain) (2003)
Di jie (Abuttal) for Flute, Oboe, Violin
and Cello (2003)
Ye Huo II for Flute solo & 11 strings
(2002)
Four short laments for "X" for
ensemble (2001)
Solo Instrumental
The Lost Psalm Of The Abyss for Flute
(2003)
Metamorphosis III for piano solo
(2002)
For Another Better World for violin solo
(2002)
The Thousand Ripples Of A Lonely Bell
for solo viola
Temple Bell Still Ringing In My Heart for
solo viola
Selected Prizes:
2009 - Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation commission grant
award
2008 - 3rd Prize, International Composition Prize Luxembourg
2008
2008 - 2nd prize, Intersonanzen Brandenburgisches
Fest der Neuen Musik, Berlin, Germany
2007 - BMW Prize, Isang Yun Music Award, Seoul, Korea
2006 - 2nd prize, Lutoslawski Award 2006, Warsaw, Poland
2005 - Winner, Nieuw Ensemble's Young Chinese Composer Competition
2004 - 1st Prize, MPO International Composers Award, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia
2003 - 1st Prize, Max-Reger-Tage International Composition
Competition, Weiden, Germany
2003 - Grand Prix, 2nd Seoul International Competition For
Composers, Korea
2003 - 1st Prize, Prix Marcel Hastir, Belgium Royal Academy
of Sciences, Letters & Fine-arts
2002 - First Prize, 4th Int'l Andrzej Panufnik Competition
for Young Composers, Krakow, Poland
2001 - Second Prize and Special Prize, 8th International Mozart
Competition, Salzburg, Austria
2000 - First Prize, 18th Concorso Internazionale di Composizione
ICOMS',Turino, Italy
1999 - 1st Prize, Prix Marcel Hastir, Belgium Royal Academy
of Sciences, Letters & Fine-arts
Recordings:
Just
One Minute More (DVD, Transatlantic Foundation for Music and Art) - Time Flows (Guy Livingstone, piano)
Pianist and producer Guy Livingston launched
his career in 1998 with a best-selling CD called “Don’t Panic”,
which premiered sixty new pieces by sixty young composers, each
commissioned by Livingston to write one-minute piano pieces.
Back for an encore ten years later, Livingston has commissioned
sixty new composers from all over the world, including one by
Chong titled Time Flows (2007) for Solo Piano. buy
Messiaen/Chong:
Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps (FUG 540 , Fuga Libera 2008) - Mourning the Murder Of An Old Banyan Tree (2002) (Het
Collectief)
The Het Collectief releases a tribute
to Olivier Messiaen, pairing the famous quartet of 1941 with
Chong's threnody for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello. buy
Traces
of Asia - Ensemble Intégrales (COV 60706, Coviello Contempoarary, Germany 2008) - Metamorphosis IV for amplified violin/viola, double bass
& CD (2001) (Ensemble Integrales)
The Ensemble Integrales interprets Asian
compositions of Chong, Mashayeki, Mochizuki, Leilei Tian and
more.
Violin
faces- Wibert Aerts (Fuga Libera 2008)
- For another better world for violin
solo
Wibert Aerts, member of the Belgium new
music ensemble Het Collectief who has been collaborating with
Chong for a number of years, releases an album of solo violin
works including Bach, Berio and Harmann. buy
Faith,
Hope & Chaos, Malaysian Contemporary Music Vol 1 (Hardesh Singh & Ch Loh, Off The Edge February
08)
- Metamorphosis VI - Wind prayer (Nieuw
Ensemble)
- Monodrama for Oboe, ensemble & live
electronics (Spektra Ensemble) Chong's music inspired Malaysia's
first anthology of contemporary music.
Contemporanea
2002 (TauKay 123, Italy)
- Four short laments for X for ensemble
(2001) (Interensemble)
Chong's chamber work appears in a programme
of works by composers such as Bertona, Giacometti, Tian, Ohmae,
Fanticini, Filoseta & Saario.
Amy
Lin Interprets Contemporary Piano Works (ABW clasics ABW 1001, Germany) Metamorphosis III for piano solo (2001) (Amy
Lin, piano)
American pianist Amy Lin performs Chong's
piano work as part of a programme of contemporary piano music
that includes the music of Chow Wen Chung, Zhou Long and Chen
Yi.
Listen
Chong's online album at Myspace offers a sampling of
his recent works for both Western and eastern instruments.
To leave your comments visit his myspace
page.
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Chong
Kee Yong, one of Malaysia's leading contemporary music composer,
is one of the most exciting voices in new music today. Few composers
can manage to fashion a truly individual sound from the experimental
techniques of today, and Chong belongs to this special class
of talents who can turn a melange of exquisite timbres into
a compelling piece of music with his own fingerprints. Composer
Peter Eötvös calls his music "imaginative and
poetic" while Belgian pianists Jan Michiels and Inge Spinette
describe his music as "very personal voice, very deep and
convincing."
His
post graduation studies include numerous composition master-classes
with Brian Ferneyhough, Daan Manneke, Peter Eötvös,
Salvatore Sciarrino, Henri Pousseur, Hanspeter Kyburz and many
others.
Amy
Lin Interprets Contemporary Piano Works
