Creative Explosion

About

The creative aesthetic behind this project is to have a strong intercultural focus featuring Asia-Pacific traditions of Korean samul nori drumming techniques, Filipiano kulintang percussion, Japanese shakuhachi 'moment' aesthetic and East Asian string techniques (Korea, Japan, China) interacting with contemporary music. The trajectory from modern violin through to Chinese erhu and Korean kayageum techniques interacting within contemporary composition and cutting edge digital technology forms a thread behind this collection. The sound of Asia-Pacific gongs (Korea, China, Philippines) intersecting with modern percussion as an enlargement of the contemporary music tradition in performance and composition is another angle. Finally the use of the techniques of reed membrance and coloured breath from Western clarinet to Japanese shakuhachi exploring the 'single-note' aesthetic of East Asia within contemporary composition and improvisation also forms a focus.

– Bruce Crossman, October 20009