I had to miss the official “world premiere” performance of the new comic opera “Wired for Love” by Jerry Hui (below) on Friday night, but I was able to catch the follow-up performance the next evening at Music Hall.

As readers of The Ear have already been informed, it is a one-act chamber opera, running about 70 minutes and is Hui’s dissertation project for his doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin School of Music.  It calls for four singers, and a pit orchestra of nine players (a string quartet with flutes, oboe/English horn, clarinets, trombone, percussion and piano).

To recap previous information, it has a libretto written jointly by Hui with Lisa Kundrat (below). In rhymed verse, it traces the confrontation made to a Nigerian scammer, who uses a male alias on the Internet, by a British counter-scammer, who uses a female alias. The two electronic “dummies” begin to take on independent characters of their own, fall genuinely in love, betray their creators, and escape to independent existence.

It is, in a sense, a piece of sci-fi satire. But it did remind me just a little of Menotti’s little comic one-act opera, “The Telephone,” which spoofed the intrusion of a modern gadget into real life circumstances. Menotti (below) also captured a lot of American colloquial English, in the way Hui and Kundrat mocked the pseudo-pigeon-English of those Nigerian scam e-mails we all seem to receive.

I was also alert to possible influences on Hui’s musical style. As he promised, he composes in an eclectic mode, reflecting and synthesizing a number of idioms.

There was jazz, and Broadway, but also conventional opera–complete with a witty quotation of the “Tristan chord.” The instrumentation at times reminded me of the “Histoire du Soldat” by Stravinsky (below top) while the overture carried for me some of the episodic writing techniques of Virgil Thomson(below bottom, with his librettist Gertrude Stein).

But Hui is his own man. His handling of the instruments is thoroughly confident, and I even wonder if he might consider fleshing out the score for a fuller orchestra. Above all, while he certainly does not attempt traditional “bel canto” vocalism, he can write genuinely idiomatic vocal lines.

There are several full-scale arias, amid a lot of “parlando” writing. And the most brilliant touch is an ensemble epilogue, a kind of Baroque operatic “coro,” offering moralizing sentiments in an echoing the final ensemble to Mozart‘s “Don Giovanni,” but cast in the form of a kind of post-Renaissance madrigal.

Hui has admitted, after all, that he is very much influenced by early musical styles. And all the music in this work is sustained in a very accomplished contrapuntal texture.

Hui was fortunate in his performers, certainly so with the instrumentalists.

Of his four singers (below, all from the UW School of Music), undergraduate baritone James Held (below, far left) was solid as the British counter-scammer–bringing a fine touch of humor to his acting. The role of the Nigerian scammer was written for a countertenor, of all things, and the very promising  Peter Gruett (below,  far right) invested his part with an appropriately bizarre quality.

Particularly outstanding, however, were the two avatars. Daniel O’Dea as the imaginary Zimbabwean frontman offered a lovely tenor voice and some quite emotionally moving expressiveness. Soprano Jennifer Sams, a familiar singer to Madison audiences, not only brought off her role as the Britisher’s phony American avatar (can you forget a name like “Ethel Wormvarnish”?) with versatility and flair but also contributed the clever stage direction.

A further plaudit goes to to Chelsie Propst for contributing imaginative surtitles, set in different type-faces to fit different characters, notably helpful in duets and ensembles.

In sum, this is a witty and enjoyable stage piece, and the audience of which I was a member just loved it. It is worth experiencing again, I think, so it is good news that Hui plans to record it soon.

Above all, “Wired for Love” is a demonstration of the very impressive dimension of Jerry Hui as a composer, amid all his other enterprises. I have already compared him to the late Steve Jobs for his boundless energy and diversely imaginative productivity.

But dare we wonder if he is perhaps also another Leonard Bernstein in the making? Time will tell. But this production is certainly a tantalizing hint. Watch for future developments …

We hear much these days about the need for enterprising young innovators, ready to start from scratch and create successful new ventures.

We have also been inundated by tributes to Steve Jobs (below), who started in a garage and built a unique and triumphant business empire before he died at 56 last week.

Perhaps music would not be the realm in which to seek or expect such dramatic personalities.  But it can be just such. In that perspective, I would like to nominate someone for designation as the Steve Jobs of Madison’s music scene.

He is Jerry Hui (below top). Jerry is a young musician and composer.  His own writing is modern and progressive. He is also a promoter, supporting new and experimental operatic composition.  And yet one more of his “garages” is the early music vocal group Eliza’s Toyes (below bottom, inside Gates of Heaven), of which he is the leader, the guiding spirit, and the soul.

He demonstrated what he has created in the latest performance by this group on Sunday evening.  He has made a point of leading his group into areas of musical and cultural literature barely touched even by established early music ensembles, with programs built around particular themes that can relate the music to its contexts.

His choice this time was the music of a single composer, Ludwig Senfl (1486-1543).  This was a brilliant choice because Senfl (below) remains a composer of major significance who has just not caught the attention of performers the way more familiar “stars” of Renaissance music have–like Josquin Desprez, or Orlandus Lassus, or Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, or even Senfl’s own teacher, Heinrich Isaac.

Senfl was a court composer, first to the Holy Roman Emperor and then the Duke of Bavaria, working in Augsburg, Vienna, and Munich.  As such, he wrote both sacred music for chapel use and secular music for court and wider dissemination. He was also involved in efforts to recreate ancient metrics in setting the poetry of Roman authors.  He was a productive and versatile composer, greatly admired in his time.  Among his fans was Martin Luther, and Senfl, though serving Catholic courts, conducted a sympathetic and friendly correspondence with the great Protestant Reformer.

Senfl’s polyphonic writing shows him a great master of contrapuntal technique, and places him among the foremost masters of sacred music in his day. Other composers drew upon well-known secular songs, in both their own sacred and secular writing. but in most cases the songs were themselves polyphonic chansons of sophisticated character. Senfl was unusual in going directly to “popular” songs, of ordinary life, and in German, rather than the fashionable French or Italian. He is really the founder of German Renaissance song, while using tunes in clever, even wicked, combinations and superimpositions.

That’s a lot to work with, then.  And Hui, with his scholarly eye, assembled a program that surveyed both the sacred and the secular in Senfl’s output.

In the first half of the program, there were three movements from his Mass setting based on the enigmatic chanson “L’homme armé” (“The Armed Man”), which almost every important composer of the day used for a Mass composition. Also, a treatment of one of German hymns by Martin Luther (below), as against a Latin motet that particularly attracted Luther’s admiration.

In the second half, the group performed secular pieces. One was an autobiographical German song in praise of his teacher. Several selections showed Senfl combining both Latin and vernacular tunes in his witty composites. One of these was the well-known tune “Fortuna desperata”, on which the group’s lutenist, Douglas Towne, devised a Renaissance-style fantasia of his own, triumphing over its difficulties as its performer.  There was a purely instrumental piece, and a German polyphonic song as an all-hands finale.

Hui is not only versatile in the ventures he pursues but also within them.  He can sing in almost any vocal range, and he plays various recorders. He himself is one of seven singers, and, with another versatile vocalist, joins as player the group’s three instrumentalists.  These are mostly young performers, not drawn from what would be considered the top ranks of local musicians, but performers of skill and dedication nevertheless.  With drastically minimal rehearsal time, they put together demanding programs that they bring off with quite accomplished ensemble blends.

The group pops up in various places but this concert was at one of their regular locales, the historic former synagogue, The Gates of Heaven (below) — perhaps his favorite “garage” – in James Madison Park.  Its intimate size created exactly the kind of court chapel ambiance with which Senfl would have worked himself as composer and singer.  The audience was rather small — perhaps some 50 or 60 or so, kept disappointingly limited by other distractions of the moment.

But more of the public should catch up with Eliza’s Toyes. This is one of those under-the-radar groups that makes Madison’s musical life not only so rich and varied, but also puts it so far ahead of many larger cities in terms of enterprise.

All the participants merit praise, but it remains the achievement of Hui in creating and fostering the group that most impresses. Our own musical Steve Jobs.

Some day, I think a lot of us in Madison will be able to say proudly that we “knew Jerry Hui back when.”

• Eliza’s Toyes opens its season with a concert of music by Ludwig Senfl (1486-1543), with sacred and secular music from Martin Luther’s time. Senfl is an under-appreciated composer, whose colorful tapestry of polyphony is pure fun to perform, and a spectacle to hear!
• I’m part of a show called “Here We Left It“, presented by the Dear Heart Dance. Based on Virginia Woolf’s short story “A Haunted House”, 14 artists come together and collaborated on an intimate, haunting guided performance experience, as you follow characters from the story through a house bedecked with installation and live performances.
• UW Madrigal Singers, under direction of Bruce Gladstone, will give a concert titled “Creation vs Evolution”. Each set has music that is inspired and derived from another piece. Among many wonderful pieces, my “Ave Verum: After Mozart” will be given its Madison premiere!
• The fundraising for my new opera “Wired For Love” was successful. Preparation is under way, and we can’t wait to start rehearsing in November! Live premieres are scheduled on January 20 and 21 of 2012. Mark your calendar!

We composers don’t socialize…

I haven’t written too many pieces this year, but for what I’ve done I really liked. HK Young People’s Chorus’ commission of “Salmo 150” was a really fun project in which I could exercise those Renaissance counterpoint muscles, while I get to go wild on “Song for Nobody” for Ambrosia Ensemble.

I wrote “Filatim” for my lecture recital, and it strengthened my interest in mixing through-composed and aleatoric material; can’t wait to write more in that vein. Gramercy Trio’s brief visit spurred good starting draft for a piano trio, and my studies with Laura Schwendinger led to th draft of a really fun sextet piece, both of which I look forward to working on when my opera is done.

Since entering the dissertator heaven (purgatory) in Spring of 2009, I have only recently been working hardcore on setting the music of my opera, “Wired for Love” (synopsis). I spent the summer reading and rereading through the original scam emails from whatsthebloodypoint, then finished writing most of the libretto, and edited it some more during fall. The music is coming along, and I really hope to finish it this winter break! (Funny enough, a talk with a server support expert at work confirmed that these scam threats from Nigeria are still quite real and worrying. Yay for socially relevant work)

Singing like crazy…

I had the fortune to hear my music performed quite a lot this year, often in second/third performances. Teaming up with composer-guitarist Bill Clay, we performed each other’s guitar song cycles at Kansas and Missouri (my “Yuan Songs” and excerpts from Bill’s “Two Kingdoms”); later in the year I was invited to NYC, and with guitarist Kenji Haba we performed “Yuan Songs” again. And of course, dear Elaine Niu and Chris Cramer took those same songs on the roads many times as well. In November, Colla Voce from Columbia, SC performed “Ave Verum Corpus: After Mozart” twice in a weekend. Seeing/hearing/feeling the same piece takes on different persona and flavor is very tantalizing.

On the other hand, I was busy performing myself too. In February I performed Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Eight Songs for a Mad King” in my lecture-recital. After almost six months of preparation, research and memorization, it was thrilling to share that with over 400 audience members–special thanks again to Paul Rowe, Susan Sweeney and Carol Mendelsohn for your coaching!

Eliza’s Toyes has been growing both in our musicianship and support for us. Our “Kircher’s Rome” concert packed Gates of Heaven one cold evening of April, and we had a fun time singing at the Chazen couple weeks ago opening for their new exhibit.

Performing with Madison Early Music Festival is always fun. This November they worked with Madrigal Singers and put together Monteverdi’s Vespers. The music; the fantastic orchestra; the pure joy of singing duet with Paul; it was probably one of my best choral memories ever!

First time singing with Madison Bach Musicians in November was a good time. The highly collaborative way of working made it feel for me like I got to both perform and enjoy everyone’s company and performances as collaborators. So was my time with Four Seasons in summer doing “South Pacific” with a talented cast and orchestra.

More exciting and whacky project will be “New Muse/New Music Everywhere”. Paola, Jon, Ching-chun and I followed our wild dream to create a local new music ensemble, and it’s actually happening! With real $ support (thank you Yamaha, College Music Society and Dane County Cultural Affairs). We had a blast putting together a 9/11 flash mob singing Barber’s Adagio for Strings. I can’t wait to kick it to full gear next year!

Well, besides music…

I had a lovely time in January being back at home in Hong Kong. I joined the protest against the HK Government building the high speed railroad link to China. Politics in HK is getting ever dicier, and living overseas, I always felt like I couldn’t do anything. It was exhilarating to take part! And though the protest failed, my hope to be socially active through art is only growing stronger.

During the summer I took an intensive beginner’s course in Estonian. Stressful time it was, but I really love the language. When I was in NYC, I visited the Estonian House (Eestimaja). It was so much fun to be able to communicate and connect with a whole new group of people, with a culture that is at once different and similar to mine. I admire their courage and determination to stand on their own feet as a small country, and have even grown to the point of earning its place in the Euro zone.

Along the line of language love, I also just started this new blog called “Gwai-lo Cantonese” to causally teach Cantonese to anyone who’s interested. Let’s see where that leads.

Greg and I moved to a new place. A bit smaller, but so much better. We said a teary goodbye  to our free piano (teary from physically picking up that dang thing), but gain a fabulous balcony. And a bigger fish tank…

Looking forward…

My opera will be finished!!

Eliza’s Toyes will have some exciting concerts on February 6  and May 7.

Will I find a job?

Stay tuned for the exciting episode of 2011!

Eight Songs for a Mad King: A DMA Lecture-Recital

Morgann Davis, flute
Ching-Hsie Hsu, clarinet
Mary Perkinson, violin
Emily Gruselle, cello
Ian Disjardin, percussion
Jeff Gibbens, piano
Ching-chun Lai, conductor
Jerry Hui, voice

]]> http://jerryhui.com/2010/only-half-a-year-ago/feed/ 0 http://jerryhui.com/2010/salmo-150-premiere/ http://jerryhui.com/2010/salmo-150-premiere/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:51:31 +0000 jerryhui http://musiquenouvelle.com/?p=636 Now you can listen to the premiere performance of Salmo 150, sung by the Hong Kong Young People’s Chorus two weekends ago. Thank you singers, and thank you conductor Virginia Cheng for working with them! If you like the chorus, do check out their YouTube channel.

]]> http://jerryhui.com/2010/salmo-150-premiere/feed/ 0 http://jerryhui.com/2010/world-premiere-salmo-150/ http://jerryhui.com/2010/world-premiere-salmo-150/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:45:36 +0000 jerryhui http://musiquenouvelle.com/?p=521

Image via Wikipedia

If you are in Hong Kong this weekend and if you are in the mood for choral music, please go to the concert of Hong Kong Young People’s Chorus! I’m honored that among many master pieces such as Duruflé’s Requiem, my setting of Salmo 150 (Psalm 150 in Spanish) will be premiered. While the text is taken from the “Reina-Valera Antigua” translation from the 16th century, I draw much influence from the Spanish Renaissance masters as well. The result is a piece that’s highly contrapuntal, imitative, and full of text painting.

HKYPC presents Duruflé’s Requiem

8/14 (Saturday) 6pm
Li Hall, St. John Cathedral, Central, HK

If you do make it to the concert, please let me know what you think!

]]> http://jerryhui.com/2010/world-premiere-salmo-150/feed/ 0 http://jerryhui.com/2010/summer-is-here/ http://jerryhui.com/2010/summer-is-here/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:35:38 +0000 jerryhui http://musiquenouvelle.com/2010/summer-is-here/


Ripley

Originally uploaded by jellioso

…and Ripley wants to get out!

Even though I’m not travelling for the summer, there are plenty of exciting happenings here in Madison for me.

1) I’ll be working hard in finishing the libretto and the music for my opera, “Wired for Love”.

2) I’m working with Four Seasons Theatre once again, in the concert version of “South Pacific”–a small role, and helping out with music rehearsals when needed.

3) Madison Early Music Festival. Need I say more?

4) Singing with Isthmus Vocal Ensemble.

5) Growing vegetables and flowers in my backyard. Squash, potatoes, tomatoes, and loads of herbs!