Conway Kuo

Conway Kuo, violist and violinist, is a native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School. He is currently the Associate Principal Second Violin of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and also a Section First Violinist with the New York City Opera Orchestra. Mr. Kuo performs regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra and participated in theAspen, Schleswig-Holstein, and Pacific Music Festivals. Mr. Kuo was the violist for the Four Seasons String Quartet, which gave performances in Merkin Concert Hall and the John Harms Center. His major teachers include Jascha Brodsky, Masao Kawasaki, Glenn Dicterow, and Arnold Steinhardt.

Concert Dates

  • May 15, 2011 - New York City

15 one-minute selections for Conway Kuo

  • Incantation

    Liana Alexandra

    "Liana Alexandra is regarded as the leading Romanian composer of her generation. Her compositional vocabulary is wide, ranging from cluster and aleatoric technique to broad lyric melody based on folk elements from her native culture." (Grey Youtz . The Michigan University, U.S.A.) http://www.voxnovus.com/composer/Liana_Alexandra.htm

    "Incantation for Violin" is dedicated to Conway Kuo.

  • Five Beads

    John L. Baker

    John L. Baker studied math and computers at university and graduate school in the 1950s and '60s, musical theory and composition in the 1990s as a non-degree student at Washington State University. Most of his compositions follow harmonically his own 12-tone system with progression, PSTP. For details, see polytrope.ca .

    This string of five related 12-second beads forms a frieze in time with three-dimensional panels, the dimensions being time, pitch, and loudness. Each bead takes its pitches from an inversion of the dynamics contour of the preceding bead, time-reversed, and takes its dynamics from the preceding pitch contour, also time-reversed.

  • Vignette

    Roger Blanc

    Roger Blanc, M.M., studied with David Diamond and taught Ear Training at Juilliard for three years. His music has been performed at Alice Tully Hall, The Whitney Sculpture Court, and overseas. He has worked in music for television (Tonight Show), film (Frida), recording (Barbra Streisand), and live performance (Miles Davis).

    "Vignette" attempts to encapsulate a broad range of human experience in a single one-minute work for solo violin; it is secondarily a brief musical advertisement for speed dating. The work consists of three continuous sections in an A-B-A configuration, and is both jocular and slightly manic in mood.

  • Etudes in Glissandi

    Tom Coult

    Tom Coult is a Manchester-based composer whose works have been performed by ensembles including Manchester Camerata, Trio Atem, Vaganza, the University of Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Chimera Ensemble and Raise Your Voice Collective. He is currently working on a collaborative theatrical work for the U.K.'s Secret Garden Party festival.

    This short study deals with glissandi - upwards, downwards and in contrary motion - and evokes the sounds of jet engines, formula one cars and Jimi Hendrix's performance of 'Star Spangled Banner'.

  • Katzbalger

    Douglas DaSilva

    Douglas DaSilva is a composer, guitarist, educator and Artistic Director of the Composer's Voice Concert Series and Premiere Salon Concerts in New York City. He composes in various styles including jazz, pop, children's music, chamber music and experimental. Much of his writing is influenced by Brazilian music and self-inflicted stress.

    "Katzbalger" is a short sword used by Landsknecht, German mercenaries of the European Renaissance. Katzbalger is commonly translated as "cat-gutter," an image endearing only to foot soldiers! My piece is a sword fight, weapons swinging until a fatal blow strikes! Echoes of the battlefield ring in the dying soldier's ears.

  • Who's Knocking

    Ulf Grahn

    Ulf Grahn a Swedish American composer living and working in the Washington, DC area. He has composed work for various ensembles, orchestras, choirs including ballet and theatre. He has numerous works for piano solo including three works for piano and Orchestra. The piano works are available on Orion and Opus One records.

    "Who's knocking" for solo Violin was worked out on a trip to work. The opening gesture gives the germ to the work which is then worked out. The character should be humerus in it's rapid forward moving

  • Nordic Landscapes

    Iman Habibi

    Iman Habibi, MMUS (UBC 2010), BMUS (UBC 2008), is an award-winning composer and pianist, residing in Vancouver. Hailed as a "giant in talent," his music has been programmed by prestigious concert organizations such as The Marilyn Horne Foundation (New York), The Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), Tapestry New Opera (Toronto).

  • 1 Minute

    Se-Eun Kim

    Se-eun Kim who is a composer, editor and orchestrator was born in Seoul, Korea. She began playing piano at 8 and winning piano contests in elementary school. Kim earned a bachelor of arts in piano performance from Bethesda University in California, and a diploma in piano performance from the Konservatorium Wien in Austria. In college, she became interested in jazz, and studied at the Seoul Jazz Academy. At Berklee, Kim is busy performing as a soloist, with vocal ensembles, for auditions and proficiencies, and with bands.

    Se-Eun Kim was accused of "strange ideas" when she presented her "1 minute tango" blending elements of classical music and tango with very markedly and energetically the player with technical challenges pertaining to given aspect of violin playing, yet are effective concert works. This tangos were no longer mere dance music, but works of art for the concert hall. Although the tango rhythm is never very far away in this set, much of the interest of the music lies in how finds new textures and playing techniques for the solo violin.

  • Ta-Ryung I

    Eun Young Lee

    Eun Young Lee received awards including the first prize at Tsang-Houei Hsu International Music Composition Award; a recipient of fellowships including the MacDowell Colony Fellowship. Her music is chosen for broadcasts and is featured in festivals/concerts in many countries. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago.

    "Ta-Ryung I" is based on Korean folk tune, Sae-Ta-Ryung. It is a part of my current project, a series of solo works and electronics. This version, Ta-Ryung I, is for solely solo violin work for violinist Conway Kuo.

  • Arioso

    Leonard Mark Lewis

    Composer Leonard Mark Lewis specializes in new music. Lewis is the recipient of awards from ASCAP, B.M.I., Columbia University, Voices of Change and MACRO. He has been commissioned and performed by an array of ensembles and soloists. He is an Assistant Professor of Music at Winthrop University.

    The formal scheme of "Arioso" is based on an extremely truncated Da Capo Aria form. The rhythmically flexible material is meant to evoke a mix of recitative and aria while remaining free of confinements of register.

  • Small Deviation

    Justin Merritt

    Composer Justin Merritt (bn. 1975) is Associate Professor at St. Olaf College. He was the youngest-ever winner of the ASCAP/Rudolph Nissim award and the winner of many other awards including the Copland Award and the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Award. Hear more music by Justin Merritt at www.mooneast.com.

    "Small Deviation" is a hard-charging allegro centered on the repeated low g.

  • Visions

    Claudia Montero

    Claudia Montero Was born in Buenos Aires, and started her musical education in Alberto Ginastera Conservatory in Buenos Aires, graduating in Musical Pedagogy and Composition. From 1993 to the present, she has had an opening for all her works, She has received requests from Soloists in the most pretisgious Orchestras in Buenos Aires, and Chamber Orchestras from the Chambers in Argentina, Spain and the rest of Europe. She has participated in International Musical Festivals like Cagliari (Italy), "A Orillas del Guadalquivir"("At the Banks of the Guadalquivir") (Spain), Ayamonte Musical Festival (Spain), " From the End of the World"( Taiwan) 2008, and At the End of the World 2nd Edition bahia Blanca. Argentina 2009, Gitarreland Festival 2010 ( Germany and France) she has been living in Valencia, where she has attended the Master in Musical Aesthetics and Creativity ( Valencia University). At present she teachs Composition in Joaquin Rodrigo Superior Conservatory of Music of Valencia.Spain. www.claudiamontero.net

    "Visions" Is a work written especially for the Fifteen Minutes of Fame call, it explores the sonority some harmonies, in a tone relexivo, divided in 2 small parts looks for in each one of them a reflection on some twists, a reason of three notes promotes the general idea, showing that impulse in different planes and intensities.

  • Two Microcosms

    Greg A. Steinke

    Dr. Greg A Steinke is a composer of chamber and symphonic music and author with published/recorded works and performances across the U. S. and internationally; speaker on interdisciplinary arts, and oboist specializing in contemporary music.

    These two microcosms are based on an early piece originally done for piano.

  • Pieces of a Jungle

    Aleksander Sternfeld-Dunn

    Aleksander Sternfeld-Dunn is a Bay Area native and composer of acoustic and electronic music. His music has been performed throughout the country as well as internationally. He serves on the faculty of Washington State University where he teaches composition and music theory.

    "Pieces of a Jungle" is derived from a larger work Urban Jungle for chamber ensemble. The music explores dichotomies between more dissonant and aggressive melodic shapes and sonorous melodies.

  • Summer Morning by a Stream

    Christopher M. Wicks

    Christopher M. Wicks holds a MM in Composition from the University of Montreal, and is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists. His music has been performed in fifteen American states, Canada, Korea and four European countries.

    "Summer Morning by a Stream" was written indeed on a summer morning by the Spokane River, where I was visiting for a beloved grandmother's funeral. It is a song of hope