“Shifting Colors” Premiere in Collaboration with Spire Fusion | Toronto, Canada

I have recently had the good pleasure of working with an exciting local ensemble, “Spire Fusion” on a new piece of mine that was premiered on October 29th.  This collaboration diverges from my usual collaborations for chamber ensemble or orchestra, as Spire (as they are more fondly known) comprises of seven emerging musicians that blend sounds from the east and the west.  Co-founded by pipa extraordinaire Wendy Zhou and erhu virtuoso Amely Zhou, they have been active since 2010 and have been a visible presence in the Toronto Chinese community and the Indie/pop scene.  While they have a decidedly pop focus in their programming, their musicians reached out to me in the summer of 2016 to discuss a possible collaboration with their group.  I then wrote a piece in mid September titled “Shifting Colors“, a short work for six of the seven members that features solos from the Chinese instruments which brings together the pop and classical elements to give the program some variety as well as playing to the ensemble’s strength.  If you are interested in the work Spire is doing, I hope you will take a moment to check out their website and look out for their future concerts!

Spire Fusion Members: