{"id":115728,"date":"2025-07-03T16:23:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T20:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=115728"},"modified":"2025-07-04T08:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:00:02","slug":"interview-liham-a-digital-song-cycle-toronto-composer-juro-kim-feliz-talks-about-the-multimedia-celebration-of-filipino-heritage-in-classical-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/07\/03\/interview-liham-a-digital-song-cycle-toronto-composer-juro-kim-feliz-talks-about-the-multimedia-celebration-of-filipino-heritage-in-classical-music\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Liham: A Digital Song Cycle: Toronto Composer Juro Kim Feliz Talks About The Multimedia Celebration Of Filipino Heritage In Classical Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_115731\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115731\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-115731\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-86.jpg\" alt=\"A still from the multimedia project Liham: A Digital Song Cycle depicting a dark haired woman singing in a forest (Photo courtesy of Juro Kim Feliz)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-86.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-86-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-86-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-86-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115731\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still from the multimedia project Liham: A Digital Song Cycle (Photo courtesy of Juro Kim Feliz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Contemporary classical music, storytelling, poetry, and film come together in Liham: A Digital Song Cycle. The online project celebrates Filipino history and storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>Loosely translated from Tagalog, Liham means correspondence, a written message or communication. The project is a multimedia art-song cycle and love letter to the spirit of the Filipino people and their stories.<\/p>\n<h2>Liham: A Digital Song Cycle<\/h2>\n<p>Musically, the work revolves around four songs based the colonial version of the Philippine national anthem. They share the stories of four Filipino Canadians \u2014 two who are business owners in British Columbia, along with Vancouver-based visual artist Bert Monterona, and Toronto actor and singer Carolyn Fe. The BC business owners also opened up their spaces to serve as filming locations.<\/p>\n<p>Their stories are diverse, from those who\u2019ve recently arrived in Canada to the long settled, without stereotyping or focusing on trauma.<\/p>\n<p>The work premiered in a live version in New York at the MISE-EN Festival in 2024, and went live online on June 12, 2025 in celebration of Philippine Independence Day.<\/p>\n<p>With Feliz as the composer, the libretto was written by Montreal-based poet <strong>Revan Badingham III<\/strong> (Riley Palanca). The work was commissioned by Filipino opera and theatre artist <strong>Renee Michaela Fajardo<\/strong>, who performs in it along with baritone Danlie Rae Acebuque and pianist <strong>Vivian Kwok<\/strong>. <strong>Solara Thanh-B\u00ecnh \u0110\u1eb7ng<\/strong> acted as director and producer, with cinematographer and associate producer <strong>Rachel Chen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was important to us to work with folks within our community here, and I wanted the project to tell their \u2014 our \u2014 stories, wherever that took us,\u201d Fajardo says in a statement. \u201cThis is a love letter to those of us who, for one reason or another, know what it\u2019s like to have a heart constantly between identities, between oceans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We spoke to Toronto composer Juro Kim Feliz about the project.<\/p>\n<p>Juro Kim Feliz, composer; Riley Palanca, poet; Renee Fajardo, Mezzo-soprano; Andrea Grant, pianist, filmed and recorded at Grace Church on the Hill, Toronto on August 18, 2021 (Sound and video capture by Ryan Harper):<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8eHBBTAJOuA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent&#038;listType=playlist&#038;list=RD8eHBBTAJOuA\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Juro Kim Feliz<\/h2>\n<p>Juro was the inaugural composer-in-residence of New Music Concerts, and has been active in Torontos\u2019 contemporary music scene for about eight years.<\/p>\n<p>Work by Toronto-based composer, pianist, writer, and synth-pop singer-songwriter Juro Kim Feliz has been performed across Asia, Europe and the Americas. In 2009, he won the Southeast Asian Young Composer Award, launching his career. He\u2019s been commissioned and performed, and collaborated with ensembles and artists such as Continuum Contemporary Music, Liminar, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Ensemble x.y, dissonArt Ensemble, Maril\u00e8ne Provencher-Leduc, Guy Few, and Wesley Shen.<\/p>\n<p>His musical journey began in his native Philippines, where he studied piano, winning the Weinstein Piano Competition in 1999. He studied compositions at the University of the Phlippines, and at McGill University in Montreal.<\/p>\n<p>Feliz has also been active as a community radio producer, and as an educator. He has taught classical piano and Western music theory at the Royal Conservatory of Music for more than 14 years.<\/p>\n<h3>The Interview<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI started as a pianist back in the Philippines,\u201d Feliz says. He first studied piano during high school, and became involved in competitions. The repertoire he was learning led him to think about composition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there was that fascination with modern atonal music,\u201d he says. \u201cI was heavily listening to Bart\u00f3k.\u201d He was also discovering Stravinsky.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they consider these sounds as music, then I could for sure create my own sounds as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He eventually dropped piano performance to delve into composition full-time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a composer I could be versatile,\u201d he says. It didn\u2019t rule out performance altogether, but added other layers to his musical practice.<\/p>\n<p>By the time he got to university, he was sure of his choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of the time, I would rather be the guy behind the scenes,\u201d he says. Along with composition, he also studied percussion instruments, and the Japanese koto.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s about redirecting them into my composition practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Liham<\/h3>\n<p>Renee Michaela Fajardo, producer of the project, recruited Feliz. \u201cShe came to me in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her commission asked for a song cycle that dealt with themes of identity, migration, and other related topics, in reference specifically to Filipino Canadian identities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I was the first one in line,\u201d he says. After the composer, she was looking for the writer and librettist. Poet Revan was a long time collaborator of Feliz\u2019s. \u201cThat became our team at the time,\u201d he says. \u201cIt started there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Renee already had a digital multimedia format in mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe already know that there\u2019s going to be filming, some bits of storytelling,\u201d he says. Getting all the pieces, and of course funding, in place took some time.<\/p>\n<p>Fajardo, who was based in Toronto to begin with, moved to Vancouver. It meant finding a new presenter for the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s when <a href=\"https:\/\/soundthealarm.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sound the Alarm<\/a> came up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115732\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115732\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-115732\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Liham_-_stills_1.1.16_1.jpg\" alt=\"A still from the multimedia project Liham: A Digital Song Cycle depicting a dark haired man in a yellow shirt hugging himself while standing in the aisle of a store (Photo courtesy of Juro Kim Feliz)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Liham_-_stills_1.1.16_1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Liham_-_stills_1.1.16_1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Liham_-_stills_1.1.16_1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Liham_-_stills_1.1.16_1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115732\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still from the multimedia project Liham: A Digital Song Cycle (Photo courtesy of Juro Kim Feliz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>The Song Cycle<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cAs a contemporary composer I&#8217;m more attuned to creating an avant garde work,\u201d Feliz explains.<\/p>\n<p>For Liham, however, he was writing for two singers, and incorporating poetry that had social and political nuances, even to revolutionary themes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought, I have to respond very carefully musically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He says he was inspired by composers like Charles Ives and Luciano Berio, and branching into directions he wouldn\u2019t normally take. \u201cTrying to sound a little different than what I&#8217;m used to,\u201d he says, describing the result as a kind of Frankenstein monster. \u201cIt does evoke a lot of conceptual frameworks,\u201d he says. It\u2019s somewhat anachronistic in flavour, compared to his other works. \u201cThis is not born out of a vaccuum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Filipino art song also became an important influence. \u201cIt became very, very significant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite his tongue in cheek reference to Frankenstein, the finished result came out just right. \u201cI will be very honest about it,\u201d he says. \u201cI suddenly unexpectedly liked it. I had many misgivings. Surprisingly it turned out really great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He describes it as art song stitched together with post-modernist expression. \u201cIt sounds surprisingly familiar. Somehow, musically it really unfolded in a nice way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The work incorporates the varied influences and different sound worlds as elements that flow past in performance. \u201cIt&#8217;s like a river of consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are even elements reminiscent of pop ballads, and in certain passages, he provides only the chords, asking the pianist to improvise. \u201cThere is that kind of element that surprisingly worked,\u201d he says. \u201cIt sounded really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Passages of familiar music burst out of the post-modernist flow. \u201cSuddenly you&#8217;re plunged into a certain world, even for a few moments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vocalists are treated differently. \u201cThe idea thought is that the vocal melodies are detached from it,\u201d he explains. The piano and vocals interact, albeit in different ways. \u201cThere is also that kind of ambiguity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While he\u2019s paid a lot of attention to the music, he notes that the overall thrust of the project is storytelling, and reframing opera in that sense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s not opera per se, [but] four songs intertwined with four actual stories,\u201d Feliz explains, \u201cIt creates that kind of effect. I like the idea that they&#8217;re not necessarily connected with each other. I do appreciate the idea that they&#8217;re sitting together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Feliz wanted to be more than just the person who wrote the music; he also conducted the interviews that formed the basis of the stories that are told. \u201cWhile I did the music, I also wanted to make sure that my participation in this project wasn&#8217;t just as a composer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about a community and its resilience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not just a musical.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You\u2019ll find Liham: A Digital Song Cycle [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lihamproject.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? 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