{"id":51779,"date":"2018-03-21T14:10:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T18:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=51779"},"modified":"2018-03-21T14:10:23","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T18:10:23","slug":"primer-earworms-an-insomniac-appetite-for-new-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/03\/21\/primer-earworms-an-insomniac-appetite-for-new-music\/","title":{"rendered":"PRIMER | \u2018Earworms\u2019: An Insomniac Appetite For New Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vivian
Vivian Fung (Photo: Charles Boudreau)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it comes to new music, Vivian Fung<\/a> doesn\u2019t care about negative or positive press, so long as her pieces draw some kind of response. \u201cWhether it\u2019s positive or negative \u2014 it\u2019s good to have ANY reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fung doesn\u2019t come across as being a reactionary during our telephone conversation. But when her newest piece is performed in Toronto on March 24<\/a>, the event will run counter to the news that the New Creations Festival will be shuttered<\/a> in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra\u2019s upcoming season.<\/p>\n

Before then, Fung\u2019s \u2018Earworms\u2019 will be premiered by the National Arts Centre Orchestra on March 22 and 23.<\/p>\n

Fung is on the faculty in the music composition department at Santa Clara University. She lives in the San Francisco area with her husband and toddler son.<\/p>\n

The piece came together quite organically for her. The National Arts Centre Orchestra had reached out to Fung for their first Southam commission\u00a0\u2014 a set of five new pieces to honour the 100th birthday of National Arts Centre founder Hamilton Southam.<\/p>\n

\"Alexander
Alexander Shelley. (Photo: Dwayne Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It turns out that the NACO was a great fit for the composer, who thinks of some members of the orchestra as family and wanted to bring out their talent and virtuosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is really involved \u2014 I was trying to make a lot of colour pop up with different combinations of instruments. I just love doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even closer to home, Fung\u2019s son had a direct influence on some of the selections found in \u2018Earworms.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018\u201cThe Wheels on the Bus\u201d is my son\u2019s favourite \u2014 he was listening to it ad nauseam for half a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appearances can be deceiving \u2014 the piece is written for professional orchestra, or \u201ca very, very good amateur orchestra.\u201d The writing includes multiphonics from the woodwinds, intricate writing in the strings, and charged bass passages.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got this urgency to it \u2014 the mood changes a lot, and is indicative of that state of mind, that it\u2019s constantly fluctuating. It\u2019s not easy music [to play], but it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work is about ten minutes long and is made up of bits and pieces from five different works. They run the gamut from Ravel\u2019s \u2018La Valse,\u2019 to \u201cThe Wheels on the Bus,\u2019 to a contemporary pop piece by an artist who won\u2019t be named until the premiere performance due to copyright restrictions.<\/p>\n

The segments occupy her thoughts day and night \u2014 literally. \u201cIt\u2019s what I\u2019d hear when I have a bout of insomnia late at night. It\u2019s never really the complete piece. You know how you hear certain roots over and over again? That\u2019s how I\u2019d write it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fragmented stream of conscience \u2014 diluted or changed. And so that\u2019s the way I\u2019ve written it \u2014 the way I\u2019d experience it at night, or the way that an earworm would be. Because it\u2019s something obsessive.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the context of \u2018Earworms\u2019\u2019 inaugural tour, the termination of the New Creations Festival has a personal impact on Fung, whose pieces had been featured previously in the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite sad \u2014 we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen to the Toronto Symphony when Peter [Oundjian] leaves,\u201d Fung cites Michael Vincent\u2019s article<\/a> on Ludwig van Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe [performance organizations] are going to integrate it more into their programming. Which might be nice. It just sounds like everything is in transition right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that programming should really reflect what is relevant to us today in society. When I see a lot of the same pieces being performed over and over again, it kind of upsets me that people are not more adventuresome in their programming. And I think New Creations was really fantastic for that, but they\u2019re changing. So we\u2019ll see.\u201d \u2028\u2028\u2018Earworms\u2019 will bridge the old with the new. If Fung gets her way, it will draw a memorable reaction from audiences.<\/p>\n

How much do you know about Vivian Fung\u2019s newest piece? Take our \u2018Earworms\u2019 quiz below:<\/p>\n