Shiau-uen Ding

XL- 15 Minutes for Voisey

In 2009 Shiua-uen Ding agreed to debut 15 one minute piano works dedicated to Robert Voisey for a celebratory performance on his 40th birthday. The pieces were dedicated to Rob Voisey to honor his entrepreneurial spirit in regards to the 60x60 project of which he created, founded, and directs. 60x60 is world wide multi-media performance series which has presented and promoted the one-minute works of 1000's of composers. This celebratory concert dubbed with the title "XL." It was decided to call the 15 works put together "15 Minutes of Fame." The performance was a huge success and it was decided to continue the project with asking composers to write and dedicate their one-minute works to the project and the musician who would perform the works' debut. Shiau-uen Ding was the first musician to continue this endeavor with the Liszt Bicentennial Bash

A native of Taiwan, pianist Shiau-uen Ding is a rising presence on the new and electro-acoustic music scenes, and an original and energetic performer of traditional solo and chamber repertoire. She studied piano with Eugene Pridonoff, Elizabeth Pridonoff, and Lina Yeh, computer music with Mara Helmuth and Christopher Bailey, and contemporary improvisation with Alan Bern at National Taiwan Normal University and University of Cincinnati, where she received her doctoral degree. She lives in New York City.

She has performed in France, Germany, Belgium, China, and throughout the US and Taiwan. Her virtuosic and sensitive interpretations have won standing ovations. She was called a "daredevil" by the New York Times for her performance at Bang on a Can Marathon and "a powerful force on the new music scene" by Array for her performance at Spark Festival in Minneapolis. She was a semifinalist in both International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition in Amsterdam and Concours International de Piano d'Orleans. She has collaborated with internationally renowned performers and composers, including Steve Reich, Michael Kugel, George Tsontakis, who refers to her performance of his Ghost Variations as a "monster performance," and Moritz Eggert, who dedicated his Hammerklavier XIX: Hymnen der Welt (Afghanistan bis Zimbabwe) to her. In addition, new compositions have been written for her by Mara Helmuth, Christopher Bailey, Eric Lyon, Burton Beerman, and Naxos artist Gao Ping. She has recorded for Capstone, Centaur, Innova and Electric Music Collective.

Concert Dates

  • December 8, 2009 - 15 Minutes for Voisey - Christ St. Stevens Church - New York city

15 one-minute selections for Robert Voisey's Birthday

  • For the birthday of Robert Voisey

    Liana Alexandra

    Liana Alexandra, born in Bucharest, is a professor at the National University of Music of Bucharest. She is a member of Duo Intermedia and co-director of the Nuova Musica Consonate-Living Music Foundation Inc. Festival. She has received many prizes including: Prize of the Union of Romanian Composers, Gaudeamus Prize,- First Prize "Carl Maria von Weber", Dresden, and Prize of Beer-Sheva, Israel. "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,USA) "Liana Alexandra's music is full of warmth and original melody elements,side by side with a broad wonderful dramatic spirit. Her ineffable and imaginative orchestration has been amazing" (Arbetarbladet, Gevle, Sweden)

  • Voiseynvention

    Jay Batzner

    Voiseynvention was composed for Robert Voisey's XL birthday. I took the letters in Robert's name and created two musical mottos from them. One of the mottos was a simple numerical procedure which I have subsequently forgotten. The other procedure mapped the letters of his name onto a telephone keypad and then correlated the numbers on the keypads to pitches. Again, I've forgotten exactly what I did. I'll let future theorists sort it out. They will like this sort of thing. Happy birthday, Robert!

    Jay C. Batzner is a composer, sci-fi geek, amateur banjoist, home brewer, and juggler on the faculty of Central Michigan University where he teaches music technology and electronic music courses. He has been many places and has done several things, some of which are rather impressive.

  • ReV40

    Brian Belet

    Brian Belet lives in Campbell, California, with his partner and wife Marianne Bickett and son Jacques Bickett-Belet. Here he composes, hikes, and tends to his fruit trees and roses. In 2009 he co-founded the touring ensemble 'SoundProof' with Stephen Ruppenthal and Patricia Strange. To finance this real world he works as Professor of Music at San Jose State University. His music is recorded on the Centaur, Capstone, IMG Media, Frog Peak Music, and the University of Illinois CD labels; with research published in Contemporary Music Review, Organised Sound, Perspectives of New Music, and Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference.

  • Too Old to Die Young

    John Bilotta

    John Bilotta was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, but has spent most his life in the San Francisco Bay Area where he studied composition, theory, and orchestration with Frederick Saunders. A recipient of multiple commissions, grants, and awards, John has seen his works performed around the world by such outstanding soloists and ensembles as Rarescale, the Kiev Philharmonic, Earplay, Chamber Mix, the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, the Talea Ensemble, the Avenue Winds, and VocalWorks.

  • Breathing together

    Paul Burnell

    Paul Burnell was born in 1960, Ystrad, South Wales and now lives and writes in London. His music often utilises relentless repetition and pulse within a structure that can be easily perceived as a process. Sometimes humour and spoken word elements are featured. Works include The Sense of a Place Will Remain for Inchcolm New Music Ensemble 2007, 3 Pieces for Strings for Yorkshire Late Starters Strings 2008, and Mathematician Suite for Chris Brannick 2009.

  • Abyssinian 40

    Douglas DaSilva

    Douglas DaSilva is a composer, guitarist, educator and Artistic Director of the Composer's Voice Concert Series 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. He is best known by his nom de guerre: Mr. Doug.

  • Holly Golightly

    Moritz Eggert

    Moritz Eggert began his studies in piano and composition in 1975 at Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium in Frankfurt (with Wolfgang Wagenhaeuser and Claus Kuhnl), at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt (with Leonard Hokanson) and at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Munchen (with Wilhelm Killmayer). Later he continued his piano studies with Raymund Havenith and Dieter Lallinger, and his composition studies with Hans-Jurgen von Bose in Munich. In 1992 he spent a year in London as a post-graduate composition student with Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Moritz Eggert has covered all genres in his work - his oeuvre includes 7 operas as well as ballets and works for dance and music theatre, often with unusual performance elements. 1997 German TV produced a feature-length film portrait about his music. Moritz Eggert has been awarded with prizes like the composition prize of the Salzburger Osterfestspiele, the Schneider/Schott, the "Ad Referendum"-prize in Montreal, the Siemens Forderpreis for young composers, and the Zemlinsky Prize. 2003 he became a member of the "Bayerische Akademie der Schoenen Kuenste".

  • NotantoN

    David Hahn

    David Hahn, who has been 40 years old for more than a decade, shot to instant celebrity status following the release of his piece, Big Donut. He is currently writing an arrangement of "O Come All Ye Faithful" for naked choir.

  • before the gates of chaos

    Alon Nechushtan

    Alon Nechushtan has composed and performed in many countries including Japan, where he was invited to compose a piece for the 'Rejoicing Sounds' Festival in Yokohama; South Africa, where he received warm welcome for his Ancient City Blues for piano performed by Marcel Worms; and Israel where he has premiered the piece Duel for double quartet with the Musica Nova Consort during the Bianalle for New Music in Tel Aviv, conducted by the Australian conductor Keynan Jones. Other commissioned works include , his Dark Forces for double bass and electronics premiered at Project Soundwave, San Francisco by Damon Smith; his Invisible Motion for the Radnofsky Saxophone Quartet was commissioned and performed at the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston. In 2005, Hypnotic Suggestions for Euphonique Saxophone Quartet was commissioned and performed at the Bloomingdale School of Music, New York

  • Waltz

    Serban Nichifor

    Serban Nichifor, born in Bucharest, received his Doctorate in Musicology at National University of Music, Bucharest. He has won the First Prize of Gaudeamus Foundation - Amsterdam, the "Diego Ortiz" Prize - Toledo, and others prizes at Rome, Trento, Koln, Karlsruhe, as well as others. He has written 2 operas, 7 symphonies, 1 Requiem, 3 cantatas, chamber, vocal, choral and electronic-music. He is the Vice-president of the Romania-Belgium, cellist of the Duo Intermedia and co-director of the Nuova Musica Consonate - Living Music Foundation Inc. Festival. He is presently a professor at the National University of Music, Bucharest.

  • excel

    Jordan Nobles

    Known for creating music filled with an "unearthly beauty" (Mondomagazine) that makes listeners want to "close (their) eyes and transcend into a cloud of music" (Discorder Magazine), Jordan Nobles has emerged as one of Canada's finest composers. To date he has written over seventy-five works for various ensembles, from solo works to orchestras, and his music has been recorded on CD, and has appeared in short films, theatre, live television and radio. Last year alone, his music was released on Germany's SPEKTRAL label, won First Prize in the Vancouver Bach Choir's National Competition for Large Choirs, and been premiered in Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Calgary and Lima, Peru; and chosen to represent Canada at the International Society for Contemporary Music's 2009 World Music Days. Jordan has been named the 2009 Emerging Artist in music from the City of Vancouver's Mayor's Arts Awards. He will be a featured composer in the Windsor Canadian Music Festival in February of 2010 and will have his new work 6 Variations premiered simultaneously by 6 of Canada's leading new music ensembles in different cities across the country on May 15, 2010.

  • Variation on a theme by Rob Voisey

    Gene Pritsker

    Composer/guitarist/rapper Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred fifty compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles, etc. All his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures. He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hiphop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have recently released a cd on Col-legno Records. Gene's music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, Brooklyn and Berlin Philharmonic. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated such Hollywood movies as 'Perfume, Story of a Murderer' and The International'. The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, Fall 2001, described Pritsker as "dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre". Other organizations he is associated with include: Composers' Concordance, Absolute Ensemble, The international Street Cannibals. Some of Gene Pritsker's music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music and recorded by: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo and Capstone record labels.

  • Over the Hill?

    Jane Wang

    Jane Wang was born in Oxford, England and is currently a member of the Mobius Artists Group and the cdzabu collective. She is a composer who frequently collaborates with choreographers, theater and performance artists and is particularly attracted to toy and found instruments.

  • 40 for Rob

    Rodney Waschka

    "40 for Rob" is a 40-measure birthday present for composer, new music entrepreneur, and perpetual concert-giver Robert Voisey. Happy Birthday Rob!

    Working in a style that has been referred to as "Radical Simplicity", Rodney Waschka composes music for soloists, chamber groups, and large ensembles, as well as electronic music. He is perhaps best known for his pieces made with compositional algorithms and for his theatrical pieces, including two unusual operas. An internationally recognized expert on computer music, Rodney Waschka also performs as a narrator/vocalist/actor -- often with electronic music. His music has been presented across the world and recorded by labels in the USA, Portugal, and Canada. A recent recording of his music for string quartet, performed by the Nevsky String Quartet of Russia, has been released on the Capstone label. Waschka teaches at North Carolina State University.

  • Fortitude

    David Wolfson

    David Wolfson is a freelance composer, music director, arranger, pianist and copyist who has lived in New York City since 1986. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1985, was the first recipient of the newly established Darius Milhaud Award, and won the Bascom Little Musical Theatre Composition Competition. His series of stage reviews, Story Salad, was produced for thirteen years and was seen by well over a million children. He has supplied incidental music for numerous plays, as well as songs, both music and lyrics, for childrens theatre and amusement park shows. He has received grants from Meet the Composer, and the National Endowment for the Arts for his work with his wife, choreographer Lynn Wichern, and is the music director and resident composer of Experience Vocal Dance Company. Mr. Wolfson's concert works have been performed by such diverse forces as Synchronia, the Sirius String Quartet and the Bassoon Quartet of the Cleveland Orchestra. Happy Birthday Rob!