"We Are America" is the third movement of SFGC's 2010 commission "Angel Island Passages" by Chen Yi. Scored for treble voices and string quartet, Chen Yi wrote the following about this commission:
"The creative idea for this work was initiated by Dr. McMane, who invited me to write the music, and sent me the book Island, poetry and history of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940, by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung for reference in 2009. Inspired by the Angel Island stories, and by Felicia Lowe, who shared with me her film "Carved in Silence" and video productions "Chinatown" and "Road to Restoration", I named the first movement of my work "1882", which reflected the dark mood under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The collective poems carved on the wooden walls in Angel Island expressed deep emotion in sorrow and anxiety. The music in the second movement "Longing" is sad and sentimental. The third movement is called "We Are America", which is ever-moving, energetic and optimistic. The text sung in the beginning in Chinese means "I am an American". It's sung in Cantonese dialect, then in Mandarin. As the music develops, from monophonic to polyphonic with increasing layers, the climax is reached when the text is turned to English "We are America", which symbolizes the flourishing society with the great contribution from thousands of immigrants during the years. The music fades out towards the ending of the work, which pushes the scene to a remote picture, to look forward to the future peace of the world. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with such inspiring creative artists in this project, and hope the work is meaningful to our new society after the premier performance."
Chen Yi, Composer
Dr. Chen is a highly regarded and popular Chinese American composer whose work, Chinese Poems, received its world premiere as part of the San Francisco Girls Chorus' twentieth anniversary season in 1998. Dr. Chen was born in Guangzhou, China and in 1986 was the first woman in her country to receive a master's degree in composition. She was also the first woman to present a full evening multimedia orchestral concert in the US (for orchestra, choir, Chinese traditional instrumental soloists, dancers, and image projection--the Chinese Myths Cantata), in 1996. Dr. Chen's major works have been widely performed around the world by orchestras such as the National Symphony, the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, and the China National Symphony. Her new work is supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.
From 1993 to 1996, she was Composer in Residence with The Women's Philharmonic and the vocal ensemble Chanticleer. She joined the composition faculty of the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1996, and in 1998 became the
Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Her works are published by Theodore Presser Company and can be heard on numerous recordings. By combining Chinese and Western traditions, Dr. Chen transcends cultural and musical boundaries and serves as an ambassador for the arts, creating music that reaches a wide range of audiences and inspires people of different cultural backgrounds.
Loading...
1:09
Ave Maria, as performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorusby sfgirlschorus10,384 views
Very nice and very effective! I like the way you combine the oriental and occidental influences. Composer Douglas Townsend
douglastownsend 6 months ago