Series consists of final scores, edited scores, notes, and a musical program related to Dorothy Chang’s composition Gateways: Double Concerto for Erhu and Piano. Gateways was commissioned by Nicole Ge Li and Corey Hamm of the Piano-Erhu Project (PEP). Players of the erhu and piano, respectively, they began PEP as a means of exploring the tonal, musical, and cultural blends between two iconic Eastern and Western instruments. For her addition to PEP’s mission, Chang reflected on how she might address the issue of ‘east meets west,’ especially given the solo instruments’ highly distinct and disparate sonic characteristics, performance practices, and musical traditions. Gradually, the piece evolved as a patchwork of musical fragments, moments, and memories gathered from her own multicultural experiences as a first-generation Chinese American, a Western expatriate living in Taiwan, and now an immigrant to Canada. Woven into the three movements are references to a 90’s Chinese pop song, a children’s rhyme, opulent Romanticism, American minimalism, and other influences both subtle and not. The title refers to a Tang Dynasty poem that depicts a gateway as both an opportunity and a barrier, reflecting a deep yearning for a faraway time, place, or memory. The work premiered April 14, 2018 at the VSO Annex Theatre; Ge Li and Hamm served as soloists; William Rowson conducted members of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
