Alone/Not Alone #1 – Marian Yang, violin and electronics
“Alone/Not Alone”, a concert series by curator Emma Logan, explores the performer’s role in a sonic world created between acoustic and electronic elements. Part one of the series features the talented Bay Area violinist Marian Yang, performing works for violin and electronics by living women composers.
Part one of “Alone/Not Alone” presents the music of four women composers for solo violin and electronics. “Dandelion”, by Mary Kouyoumdjian for violinist Andie Tanning Springer, comments on how the standard repertoire of Springer’s youth influences her contemporary musicality that is strongly focused on the experimental and avant-garde. Shulamit Ran’s “Inscriptions”, the only piece on the program without electronics, employs a broad range of moods and playing techniques for solo violin in an effort to carve out, with a relatively textural palette, three distinct spaces in time. The title of Nina C. Young’s piece, “Sun Propeller,” refers to the propeller-like rays of light that occur when sunbeams pierce through openings in clouds. The evening closes with Kaija Saariaho’s striking work “Frises”, which explores four historical ostinato variation forms from the Baroque era in combination with an electronic dimension to expand the ideas and possibilities of the violin.
Violinist Marian Yang is a dedicated advocate of new music. Her varied performances throughout the Bay Area have featured solo and chamber works ranging from Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto to works for violin and electronics by up-and-coming composers. Marian has appeared on the BluePrint New Music Series as well as the Hot Air Music Festival. She also performs with Ensemble Parallele and the California Pops Orchestra. Her previous teachers include Bettina Mussumeli, Kia-Hui Tan, and Julian Ross. In addition to her performance career, Marian maintains a private violin studio in Palo Alto. She is passionate about music education and works actively to share new music with her students.