World Premieres

Commissioned by Sejong Soloists

August 27, 2025: Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, Korea │ Sejong Soloists; Jasmine Choi, Flute; Denis Sungho, Guitar; Bernard Werber, Narrator (©haphotostudio)

2025: Chimeric Suite │ Texu Kim (b. 1980)

Chimeric Suite is a work based on the characters and narrative of Bernard Werber's novel The Land of Chimeras. Taking its musical idea from the novel’s premise that chimeras (new humanity) are hybrids of human and animal, the work distorts the musical vocabulary and form of the Baroque style representing old humanity (non-hybrids) through “mutation-like” variations.

More specifically, rhythmic patterns of baroque dances, such as allemande, sarabande, or gigue, are combined with melodies, chords, and phrasings that integrate modern ideas to evoke a surreal atmosphere. The level of distortion changes according to the narrative.

The new species from the novel, namely, Aerials (human+bat), Nautics (human+dolphin), Diggers (human+mole), and Axelle (human+axolotl salamander, except that it is not a species but the name of a character) are each associated with the flute, the guitar, the lower string section (cello and bass), and the upper string section (violin and viola). Each species is represented by a leitmotif reflecting their traits. The leitmotifs may seem different on the surface, but a certain connection between them can be found when heard carefully and repeatedly, keeping in mind that the hybrids are all “human” in the end. The “mutation” motif, which dominates the first movement, and the “Dies Irae” melody, symbolizing the post-apocalypse and the conflict afterwards, regularly appear as well.

The following are the title and brief description of each movement. Before each movement, Bernard Werber, the author of The Land of Chimeras, will read a summary or an excerpt from the novel related to the movement.

I. Prelude – A journalist discovers the “Metamorphosis” laboratory: The music is based on the style of an allemande, frequently used as the opening movement of a Baroque suite. The recurring “mutation” motif evokes a mysterious atmosphere and dominates the music.

II. Genesis – Alice presents project “Metamorphosis” and introduces new humanity: The leitmotif of each species appears in the order of Aerials (flute), Nautics (guitar), and Diggers (cello and bass).

III. Diggers – The first hybrids are given individual names, and the new humans and Alice encounter old humans surviving (after World War III) in New Ibiza: The “Diggers” motif—heavy, but there is a sense of hope in the gaiety of the gigue—intersect with the “Dies Irae” motif.

IV. Nautics – New humans and Alice leave New Ibiza and settle in Cucufa. A division among the three hybrid groups occurs: The guitar, representing the Nautics, takes the lead, and music intensifies as conflict and hope intertwine. The Nautics’ leitmotif is related to the baroque dance bourrée, and there are moments where harmonies are densely layered, avoiding open gaps between notes, to give the impression of swimming in the water.

V. Aerials – Alice, her daughter Ophélie, and the Aerials leave Cucufa and make their way into Val Thorens: The aspects of the Aerials, who are sometimes met with jealousy due to their ability to fly but also display moments of destructiveness, are conveyed through a “mutated” sarabande.

VI. Conflicts – The settling, evolution, division, and conflict of the new species reveal the limitations of “Metamorphosis”: The previously heard leitmotifs interweave together, conjuring a variety of scenes, and music ultimately reaches its climax as the narrative develops.

VII. Axelle – Alice creates Axelle, designed to avoid previous problems caused by new humanity. Alice’s monologue begins as she sees the problems arise again: The movement opens with a gesture of fire, the element Axelle represents. Left in a state of emotional ruin, in which everything had collapsed, Alice sings an aria (the monologue).

VIII. Echoes – Alice looks back on her life since “Metamorphosis”: Music brings the work to a close by recapitulating earlier scenes.

©Texu Kim

April 8, 2025: Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York │Sejong Soloists; Adele Anthony, Gil Shaham, Violins (©Emilio Herce)

A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance was Commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, with support from the Voices of Today initiative, Andreas Delfs, music director; Sejong Soloists, Kyung Kang, Creative and Executive Director, with generous support from Jin Young Lee Kim; Aspen Music Festival and School, Robert Spano, Music Director; and Santa Barbara Symphony Nir Kabaretti, Music & Artistic Director

2025: A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance │ Avner Dorman (b. 1975)

I had been meaning to write a concerto for Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony for quite a while. The opportunity to do so came at a particularly challenging time in the world - especially for my country of origin, Israel, and the Jewish people. The attack of October 7th [2023] and the ensuing war have touched me personally and have cast a cloud over everything during the past year.

In trying to cope with these events and challenges, I found myself looking for rituals that deal with loss and that would connect me to the collective experience. I have found that the Jewish tradition often combines practices of mourning with those of celebration – a combination that holds a deep meaning for me.

The piece is written in four movements. The first is a meditative lament that begins with a soft, distant drone. The solo violins introduce the main theme  – an elegiac melody that incorporates Jewish prayer gestures and the ‘sigh’ motif – a descending half step. Through the movement these elements and the theme travel between the soloists and larger ensemble, ending with a simple solemn prayer.

An upbeat dance in changing meters, the second movement employs the same scales and thematic materials of the first, but now they serve as the building blocks of an exciting drama. The movement is structured as a series of dance tunes and various textural explorations, reaching its culmination in a reprise of the harmonic sighs of the opening movement, now as a cathartic release.

Deeply sorrowful, the third movement opens with the return of persistent drones, and the sigh motif permeates almost every bar of the melody. The movement is structured like a large triple fugue, beginning with the individual solo players and slowly spreading throughout the ensemble. After an intense yet still lamentful climax, the movement continues to slow down as if time stands still –  ritualistic, slowly, and softly.

An exuberant and exciting dance, the fourth movement is mostly in an asymmetrical 7/16 meter. Joy, almost forgotten in the lament, returns in full force, though the material includes both elements of happiness and grief. This joy acknowledges the pain and sorrow yet embraces the opportunity to dance again.

©Avner Dorman, December 1, 2024

August 24, 2024: Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, Korea │ Sejong Soloists; Tod Machover, Composer/Conductor

2024: FLOW Symphony │Tod Machover (b. 1953)

FLOW Symphony is the second work that I have composed for Sejong Soloists, after Overstory Overture that the ensemble premiered in New York and Seoul in March 2023. FLOW Symphony is scored for string orchestra, electronics, and Al enhancement. The ca. 15-minute piece is inspired by the "flowing" nature of rivers, constant in the rush or trickle of water, but also everchanging through always­different droplets, in the slowly evolving interaction between water and rocks and riverbanks, and in our changing perception as we watch and listen to a river run by.

I rediscovered these "river-esque" qualities in September 2023 as I started to work on this composition. I was staying in a remote cabin in a mountainous part of Vermont (U.S.A.) when I was attracted to the gentle, beautiful sounds of a river close by. By spending hours listening to it, I was amazed at how many layers of sound I could perceive - beyond the initial impression of pleasant sameness - as my mind grew stiller and my senses opened up. Soon each stone sounded a different tune as water caressed it, a tilt of the head changed the overall tone quality, and drawing attention to near or far activity revealed a symphonic richness of counterpoint and rhythm. I was so attracted to this river that I returned a few weeks later with a battery of recording equipment and spent two days listening, moving, and capturing river sound from diverse angles, distances and positions. These hours of recordings became one source of sound for FLOW Symphony and also provided a guide to the composition itself. I worked with Sejong Soloists in New York to "translate" the sound and feel of the river into instrumental language, and then worked in my studio back in Boston to create hybrid blends of strings and water, as well as new sounds that extend and connect both.

FLOW Symphony proposes a "musicalized" version of this process of discovering the river's sonic secrets. The piece is organized into eight sections that increasingly reveal inner patterns and musical potential found in the river. Starting with the river sound itself, more and more subtle details emerge as the rushing currents morph into rapid string passages, always propelled by a constantly developing melody, evolving finally into a texture that is very calm but also swarming with active detail. This is not a long piece, but the musical and emotional journey is extensive.

To enhance the interplay of natural and musical sounds in FLOW Symphony as well as to provide a new kind of everchanging musical "flow," we created an Al system especially for this work. Designed and programmed by Manaswi Mishra, a PhD researcher at the MIT Media Lab, "FLOW Al" serves two functions for: first, it reacts to live ensemble playing in parts of the piece and adds unusual hybrid sonorities in appropriate but surprising ways; and second, by using a new ''.Al Radio" system developed in our group at MIT, it allows an online version of the composition to play out differently at each hearing, preserving the essential feel and "flow" of my music while allowing listeners to dial in changes to duration, complexity and overall feel. The first "Al Radio" version of FLOW Symphony can be experienced at QR Code*, and a final version will be available in Spring 2025. I hope that these novel Al enhancements, added to the flowing melodies, overlapping harmonies, pulsating rhythms and twinkling textures of FLOW Symphony, will leave listeners as captivated, refreshed and intrigued as I was while listening to "my" Vermont river.

©Tod Machover

May 22, 2024: Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York │ Sejong Soloists; Frank Huang, Daniel Cho, David Chan, Andrew Wan, Violins (©Emilio Herce)

2024: with/out: Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra │Texu Kim

A concerto for four violinists, strings, and percussion, with/out addresses topics related to social distances (not social distancing) in contemporary society. The first movement, “lonesome and fluorescent,” is about The Lonely Crowd, the title of a prominent sociology book by David Riesman published in 1950. Interestingly, with all the new developments in contemporary society, including the instant connection among human beings via social media, we still face a similar (if not more intense) collective sentiment of loneliness. Solitude is also a term familiar to musicians, which would add more personal layers to the performers.

The second movement, “subdued and imploding,” is about “being in the same boat”—on a bit darker side. Some communities are tighter than others, which would make their members feel stuck. This movement incorporates long unison and heterophony (related to Korean traditional music) passages, from which each player would struggle to deviate. It moves into a quadruple cadenza, inspired by the term “collective monologues” introduced by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. It is “a form of egocentric, unsocialized speech in which children talk among themselves without apparently communicating with each other in a meaningful way; that is, the statements of one child seem unrelated to the statements of the others.” Unrelated individual cadenzas are interwoven, attempting to create a somewhat cohesive flow.

Opening with joyful cheers, the finale, “festive!!,” focuses on the bright side of “being in the same boat” and specifically celebrates Sejong Soloists’ 30th anniversary. Reflecting the soloists’ words on how they cherish their experiences with Sejong (when I asked them) and the kinship among their musicians, this movement features delightful tunes and energy.

©Texu Kim

May 17, 2024: Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York│ Sejong Soloists; Steven Banks, Saxophone; Hannah von Wiehler, Conductor (©Steve J. Sherman)

2024: Haemosu’s Celestial Chariot Ride │Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964)

Haemosu’s Celestial Chariot Ride imagines panoramas seen and experiences incited when taking a ride with Haemosu through sparkling, empathetic, and radiant adventures. The composition is inspired by six Korean sijo poems, with special thanks to Dr. Lucy Park for invaluable help with the original poems and their translations.

Commissioned by Sejong Soloists, Kyung W. Kang, creative and executive director, for tonight’s world premiere, Haemosu’s Celestial Chariot Ride is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to the Sejong Soloists, Hyo Kang, Kyung W. Kang, Steven Banks, and Hannah von Wiehler. Over the past 45 years, Thomas has composed many works whose titles point to natural and celestial radiances: sun, earth, moon, galaxy, light, dawn, illumination, etc., and several of her compositions specifically refer to mythological figures such as Eos, Selene, Arcus, Re, Helios, Apollo, Aurora, Theia, Venus, Rhea, Terpsichore, and Laetitia.

©Augusta Read Thomas

Korean Gods and Goddesses

The Korean pantheon boasts a diverse collection of gods and goddesses, each with their unique histories and origins. Sun gods play a pivotal role in Korean mythology and cultural traditions, symbolizing the power and lifegiving essence of the sun. They are revered as divine beings who bring light, warmth, and energy to the world. Additionally, these deities hold immense significance in celestial and agricultural domains, influencing the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and the natural environment.

The origins of Haemosu, the revered Korean Sun God, can be traced back to ancient times, intertwined with the rich folklore and ancient shamanic traditions of the Korean people. With his unique head adorned with crow feathers, Haemosu’s descent from the heavens in his majestic chariot, known as Oryonggeo, represents the dawn and dusk of the sun. His divine abilities are awe-inspiring, as he is capable of observing the concerns of the people during the day and returns to the celestial realm at sunset.

©Wikipedia

Haemosu in the History Books

Samguk Yusa (삼국유사; Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record compiled by the Buddhist monk Il-yeon in 1281. According to Samguk Yusa (삼국유사), Haemosu (解慕漱) is the son of the Heavenly Emperor (천제, 天帝), and he descended from the sky riding on the Five Dragon Chariot (오룡거, 五龍車) with about 100 followers (종자, 從者) riding on mythical creatures called Goni. They floated down through the colored clouds.

©Cultural Heritage Administration

March 7, 2023: Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, New York │ Sejong Soloists; Joyce DiDonato, Mezzo-soprano; Earl Lee, Conductor; Ji Hye Jung, Marimba; Albert Cano Smit, Keyboard (©Youngsam Yoon)

2023: Overstory Overture │Tod Machover

Overstory Overture is a standalone monodrama for voice, string orchestra, marimba and electronics, a preview of a full-length opera that I am developing The Overstory. When Kyung Kang – Executive and Artistic Director of Sejong Soloists – approached me in 2021 about creating a theatrical work for their ensemble, I suggested a piece based on one of the novel’s main characters, Patricia Westerford, a scientist who discovers that trees communicate on both intimate and massive scales, and who pays a serious professional and personal price for her radical ideas.

I worked with writer Simon Robson – who wrote the libretto for my 2018 opera Schoenberg in Hollywood – to craft a narrative based on Westerford’s growing recognition of the need for radical realignment of our relationship with the non-human world (resulting in Simon’s powerfully sonorous text, printed elsewhere in this program). I immediately imagined Joyce Di Donato – a close colleague and friend since our collaboration on my 1999 Resurrection opera for Houston Grand Opera, in which she sang the lead – as the perfect Patricia Westerford, and fortunately Joyce found that the theme and possibilities resonated with her. Around Joyce/Patricia, I “cast” the string players of Sejong Soloists –augmented by a Marimba with an extended lower register, all conducted by Earl Lee – as a kind of forest, moving from individual voices to an interconnected collective (underlined by Karole Armitage’s striking choreography). This ensemble speaks a language of subtle noises that reveals a wealth of melodies, harmonies and textures the closer one listens. Surrounding voice and instruments is a world of electronic sounds, created in my barn-studio and at the MIT Media Lab, sometimes providing a bridge for the transmission of “tree signaling,” at other times representing catastrophic human intervention that threatens to destroy the natural world, and finally contributing to a sonic vision of a possible merger of human and non-human.

Overstory Overture is organized into four sections, performed without a break. In the first section, LISTEN, Patricia Westerford is learning to listen to the language of the trees as they communicate underground through roots as well as through barely perceptible aerial signals. She notices the trees communicating – to each other and maybe to her – and yearns to understand. In the second section, WHO AM I?, Patricia recounts her life, her discoveries, the disbelief and hatred that her ideas about trees have provoked, and the sheer wonder of individual trees and collective forests that form vast interconnected networks of communication and support. She sings: “Do you hear the molecular telegraphy? The forest as family, the forest as song.” As the forest sings on its own, threatening sounds advance from afar, leading to the third section, CRISIS. “Petrochemical props, chainsaw and machete” burst forth to “take the breath from your baby.” Patricia sings: “Severing and suffocating…We are tearing out the lungs of the world. We are tearing out the mind of the world.” Patricia joins the forest, which lets her in. As the crisis subsides in section four, BE A TREE, Patricia and the orchestra-of-trees blend more and more, swaying in increasing harmony. Patricia invites us to “Breathe connected, breathe together,” and – tree-like – to “stay firm, stand tall, grow so slowly, bend just a little…swaying, scattering, shimmering, still…Be.” With these words, and through the music that finds equilibrium between all elements, Patricia and the orchestra-forest become one, suggesting a synergy and synthesis that could heal the world that surrounds us, and just might save us as well

©Tod Machover, February 2023