Impressions of Chinese Opera (2012)

Impressions of Chinese Opera, scored for percussion duo, depicts the four major elements of Chinese Opera: Singing, Dancing, Dialogue, and Martial Arts. By fusing together Chinese and Western percussion instruments, playing techniques, and compositional methods, a hybrid sound is created – a representation of “East meets West." While some of the musical material is closely related to actual practices in Chinese Opera, the work itself should only be considered an impression of the art form from an “outsider’s" perspective. Impressions of Chinese Opera was also inspired by other Chinese musical art forms, aside from Opera. Such an example is the Kuai Ban (fast board) tradition, an art form that features spoken word (in storytelling format) accompanied by a pair of Chinese boards, which can be seen in movement II, Nian.

This work would not be possible without the help of Jianpeng Fent (a native of Beijing, China), who opened the door for me to the wonderful musical traditions of his country. After several years of learning about this music I have gained a great amount of appreciation of these unique musical practices. My hope is that this piece is bring the "sound" of China to a broader audience.

Impressions of Chinese Opera was "previewed" on a concert tour of the East Coast United States in March 2012 by Gene Koshinski and Benjamin Toth. It was officially premiered at the Chinese National Conservatory of Music in Beijing on June 16, 2012 by Gene Koshinski and Jianpeng Feng.