Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year 2012!

I have planned to post more "Beijing" stories and pictures, but again, my life as a mom and other things got in my way :)  My family is visiting Boston for the New Years visiting family friends, so finally I have time to post some old pictures from October here. The first one is with the inventor of FM synthesis, John Chowning in Beijing, who was the featured guest composer at MusicaAcoustica Festival 2012 in Beijing which we were invited.  It was French composer/organizer Benoit Granier who found me and contacted me to go to Beijing for the first time to perform and give lectures at the Beijing Central Conservatory.

While in Beijing I met very nice people, including an American journalist named James Tiscione, who wrote a feature article of me in Global Times, an English paper in Beijing. James, who is originally from Yonkers (I think he said), has lived in China for several years now and impressively speaks Chinese fluently.  He took me around to Hutongs in Beijing, and we had a great time walking around.  Here he is treating me to a sour apple candy which was yummy! Maybe not so yummy (?) since I didn't taste it, but here are some interesting culture merger :)   "Tea Coffee" and "Mojito Milk Shake"!


My impression of Beijing was that there were so many cars which maybe driven by people who were on bicycles until recently, so it is pretty chaotic on the streets and you have to really watch out for yourself :)  The country made me think of what it must have been like in the old "wild-wild West" in California, when everyone went for new opportunities.  My father, who was born in former Manchuria as a son of Japanese pediatrician pre WWII, and have been invited to China many times as a specialist of solar energy, said that "In China, everything happens everywhere, all the time!" and I think that's pretty much correct :)

2011 was a very fruitful year for me in terms of work, and I have several projects that I am currently working on.  The very immediate project is for Maestro Pierre-Yves Artaud, the great "Dean" of France's flute society.  Prof. Artaud teaches at the Conservatoire in Paris, and the founder of Orchestre de Flûte Français.  This is a piece for solo flute (Artaud), violin (me) and interactive computer using IRCAM's latest software OMAX, and my bowing motion sensor "Augmented Violin" also developed at IRCAM, and the flute ensemble. 

My children, especially my daughter is distraught that there is NO SNOW anywhere this year :)  Her Christmas present wish included "Let it snow, let it snow..."  We shall see.... :)