Lunar Module with Lucy Chen - Part 3

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 139: Lunar Module with Lucy Chen - Part 3

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

In this week's episode, we continue our Lunar Module, a mini-series with the E4TT/ Luna Composition Lab Call for Scores winners and commissioned composers. Today we are joined by Lucy Chen, who we spoke to in May 2024. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more, check out her music here: https://lucylchen.com/.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano),  in SF, CA on January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), in SF, CA on October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/16421634

Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Addy Geenen, Yoyo Hung-Yu Lin

Don't miss America pianist extraordinaire Dale Tsang when she performs a piano recital featuring 11 works chosen in E4TT's latest call for scores. She'll play not one but two performances online and on both sides of the Bay, in Berkeley on Feb. 22 and in San Francisco on Mar. 2.

Chapters

• 0:43 In this week's Lunar Module episode, we continue talking to E4TT Luna Composition Lab, commissioned composer Lucy Chen who we spoke to in May 2024.
• 0:54 Any other interests or influences you might want to tell me about, or are those the main ones?
• 4:13 Is there anything else that we haven't talked about, that you might like to bring up or mention? Anything of interest, upcoming stuff?

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's Lunar Module episode, we continue talking to E4TT Luna Composition Lab, commissioned composer  [INTRO MUSIC ENDS] Lucy Chen who we spoke to in May 2024.

Nanette McGuinness  00:33
Any other interests or influences you might want to tell me about, or are those the main ones? And it's fine, if they are, you're pretty young.

Lucy Chen  00:41
There are a lot I don't want to like, drag this on, but, yeah, another mentor was my high school conductor. Was also just like a super passionate and fiery conductor. So I saw what it was like to really be passionate about what you do, especially in music. And he was the one that I kind of got, like my first commission from, because I was I started studying composition, and then I was like, I told him, if you ever need help, like arranging something, or if I could write something that would be cool. And then he actually let me write something, and it was for the youth orchestra that I was in, which is pretty big, and the performances usually have, like, a pretty sizable audience. And then after that, I was able to, like, well, first of all, the experience of writing that first piece and getting to rehearse it with org was, like, very cool. And also that, just like, opened a lot of doors that previously would not have been opened. And I think it was just so special. And I'm very grateful that he supported me, and that he keeps supporting me, because we're still, like, in touch.

Nanette McGuinness  01:56
Nice.

Lucy Chen  01:57
And so, yeah, he his name is Kristofer Sanz. He was also a huge influence on me. And then I'll just say one more...

Nanette McGuinness  02:05
Sure, as many as you want. [laughs]

Lucy Chen  02:07
Yeah, is... one of, like, my other, like, composition teachers. Her name is Wang Lu. She's also, I don't know, I feel like I'm kind of saying, like, a lot of the same stuff for a lot of people, but they're all special in their own ways. They're just, but they're all very just, like, super passionate people who are the type of people I really like to be around. And she would just show me a lot about, like, how I can make my ideas flow really well, or even just give me life advice on, like, college or high school. And yeah, I feel like all of these mentors, beyond just like being a musical or like technical mentor, they were very good at, like, helping me grow personally too. So I'm very grateful to know all of them. And yeah, they made me who I am today.

Nanette McGuinness  02:58
Yeah, you reached out to them, and they saw that, and as good teachers, they reciprocated and responded in a human way to give you an opportunity, or to, you know, to open the door and talk about what was important to you. That's really great. It strikes me that you've been able to create some very special relationships, and it's amazing that Kristofer, you know, when you said, if there's something you'd like for me to arrange or something, he said, write a piece for the orchestra, and then you did. So that's quite a door to open and walk through.

Lucy Chen  03:33
Yeah, I think it was very amazing, even like a just like a bit of luck. But I think it's just like when you give that sort of opportunity to like a young person or young composer, it's just like, so special, and I'm like, super grateful. Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  03:52
Is there anything else that we haven't talked about, that you might like to bring up or mention? Anything of interest, upcoming stuff?

Lucy Chen  04:02
I think just... I'm not sure if this is like relevant, but I'll just talk anyway, try. But back to the question about like aspects of music that interest me. One of the things I wanted to talk about was the one of the experiences I had with Luna Lab, which was we visited ChamberQUEER's rehearsal, and they made us do an exercise by Pauline Oliveros. So basically, we all sat in a circle and then closed our eyes, and then one person started singing a tune, and then we all just like, started following along. And then somehow the tune became like, so beautiful and like all surrounding and, like, ethereal, and it sounded like amazing. And I was like, what? How did that happen? Yeah, I think that experience was one of the greatest, like, musical experiences I've ever had, because it really showed me like, I know, like on paper, people are always like, oh, music. Brings communities together. Like, duh, but that was the first time I experienced it to my core, like just seeing, like how, how raw the human connection was, just being able to not even see anything and close your eyes and not even have a score or any sheet music, but everyone could just sing a note and it would sound like the harmony would sound so beautiful. And it was also like a temporary harmony, because it would keep shifting and changing. But every harmony was very beautiful.

Nanette McGuinness  05:30
Making... making unconscious ensemble.

Lucy Chen  05:33
Yeah, it was very cool. And that's part of the essay I was also writing for my class. Now I get the research on Oliveros, but it was Luna lab that really brought her to my attention and this experience. So I thought that was just super cool, and something I'll never forget.

Nanette McGuinness  05:52
That sounds like it was... it was wonderful. And as I hear you talk, it strikes me that beauty is something that you want and aspire to and admire in music. Is it fair to say that discord is not as appealing to you as beauty in art or music? Or am I overreaching?

Lucy Chen  06:15
I think to an extent. I... I'm not sure if this is what you're saying, but I do prefer music that sounds like or like is more melodious also, but I think it's also, for me, it's very important to be intentional with what you make that sounds good and what is more discordant. Because I think what is beautiful about music is that it can represent the human experience. And the human experience is not always, like beautiful, like there are sad points in everyone's life and like tragedies and stuff. And I like representing that too. And if having music that sounds more like discord or harsh is what will do that, then I would really like to employ that in my music. So I do think it is a good balance of stuff that is good sounding and stuff that might be more like harsh discord or harsh, yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  07:12
Yeah. No, that's a great answer. I just was hearing beautiful brought up and thought, Oh, this is interesting. Anything else or?

Lucy Chen  07:20
I think that's it. Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  07:21
Yeah, you've said all sorts of very interesting things. Thank you so much for doing this conversation with E4TT.

Lucy Chen  07:28
Of course.

Nanette McGuinness  07:30
[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Lucy Chen for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit us at www.e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]