Goi Ywei Chern - Duo Flore 20/11/2024 Programme Notes

Duo Flore

Wednesday 20 November 2024, 12:30PM - 1:15PM

Westminster Music Library, London

Duo Flore, consisting of flautist Jess McNulty and guitarist Goi Ywei Chern, perform pieces by Bogdanović, Tadić, and Goi.

Goi Ywei Chern

Qart Hadasht

I. Cothon

II. Agora

III. Byrsa Hill

IV. Megara

The four movements of this piece are named after various locations within the ancient city after which this piece is named - Qart Hadasht, meaning New City, in the punic tongue, better known in modern times by the anglicised version of its Greek and Roman name - Carthage.

The Cothon was the great harbour from which the Carthaginians projected their power throughout the Mediterranean. It consisted of a rectangular commercial harbour leading into a circular military harbour.

The Agora was the marketplace and public square of the city. Trade, politics, and festivities would likely have taken place there, creating a lively, energetic atmosphere.

Byrsa Hill was, in legend, the place where Elissa, also known as Dido, first founded the city after fleeing from Tyre. A fortified citadel sat atop the hill, in which the Temple of Eshmun was located at the end of a great staircase

The Megara was a district described by Appian as "planted with gardens and full of fruit-bearing trees divided off by low walls, hedges, and brambles, besides deep ditches full of water running in every direction".

Across the piece I imagine moving through the city, starting from entering the commercial harbour from the sea and moving into the military harbour in Cothon, walking through the marketplace and public square in Agora, climbing the great staircase to the temple in Byrsa Hill, and travelling across the gardens and meadows in Megara.

Goi Ywei Chern, 2024

Dušan Bogdanović (arr. Goi)

No Feathers

This energetic piece was originally composed for guitar duo. It was arranged by Goi based on a recorded improvisation on the original score played by Viviana Guzman and Dušan Bogdanović.

Miroslav Tadić

Four Macedonian Pieces

I. Zajdi, zajdi

II. Pajdushka

III. Jovka Kumanovka

IV. Gajdarsko oro

Four Macedonian Pieces reflect one aspect of my long-term fascination with folk music of Macedonia (formerly a republic of Yugoslavia). Its beauty, depth and intricate melodic and metric structures have inspired my compositions, arrangements and improvisations in a wide variety of settings, from solo classical guitar to large acoustic and electric ensembles. This particular set of pieces came into being thanks to the insistence and inspiration by my dear friends and colleagues Stuart Fox, Tatjana Kukoc annd Denis Azabagic to whom I am very thankful.

Zajdi, zajdi is based on one of the most popular Macedonian folk songs which speaks movingly of passage of time and imminence of old age. "Dear forest, my dear sister, we are both mourning - you mourn for your leaves which have fallen and I mourn for my youth which has passed. Dear sister, your leaves will return in the springtime but my youth shall never return..."

Pajdushka is based on a popular dance form frequently found in Macedonia and Bulgaria. It is always in quick 5/8 or 5/16 meter that is often divided as 2+3. Traditionally every village or region has its own version and variations. My composition uses some decidedly non-traditional elements such as African-inspired pentatonic scales annd a section in continuously shifting meters.

Jovka Kumanovka is based on a beautiful song from the Kumanovo region of Macedonia. It uses the most common meter in Macedonian music: 7/8 divided as 3+2+2. The song speaks of Jovka, a young Macedonian woman who is strolling through a field, looking for a necklace that she has lost. A Turkish lord rides by and becomes fascinated by her beauty. He tells her that she should become his wife and forget looking for a necklace, as she will have plenty of jewelry. However, she proudly turns him down saying she is happy with her boyfriend (a Macedonian, of course...) The tempo of my composition is quite a bit slower and its feeling is much more melancholy than the folk song that inspired it. The version for alto flute goes to the lowest range of that instrument evoking the airy and mystical sound of kaval, a traditional shepard's flute related to the turkish ney.

Gajdarsko oro translates as "Bagpiper's dance". It is based on a lively dance in 12/8 which can still often be seen and heard at festival gatherings. It is often played on accordion or clarinet attempting to imitate the sound of bagpipes which have been present in Macedonian music since the ancient times. My piece incorporates use of diverse influences that include music of Africa and Andalusia.

Besides being performed as a set of four pieces, these compositions can also be played as pairs (Zajdi, zajdi and Pajdushka / Jovka Kumanovka and Gajdarsko oro).

Miroslav Tadić, November 2009, Los Angeles

instagram - @jess.mcnulty_

Jessica McNulty is a flautist based in London. Originally from the South Coast of England, she has recently completed her undergraduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she learnt with Ian Clarke, Sarah Newbold, Philippa Davies, and Christopher Green. She now is studying for her Masters on Guildhall’s Opera Makers course as a librettist.

A dedicated chamber player, Jessica is a member of The Nuada Quintet. As a wind quintet, they have performed in settings including in new music recordings, at Mansion House, St Joseph’s Church, and Milton Court. Passionate about outreach, The Nuada Quintet has been involved in several projects, including with the New York-based collective DECODA, and with GYA Taunton leading workshops, masterclasses, and performances. More recently, they have led workshops in Madrid and have made their debut international performance.

In March 2024, she was a finalist in the prestigious Needlemaker’s Woodwind Prize. She has further appeared as a soloist in London Fashion Week, both the shows of Edeline Lee X Glass Magazine in 2023 and in Patrick McDowell X Guildhall School in 2024.

Her time in London has enabled her to explore contemporary flute music; she has performed and recorded numerous new works, including Ben-Yami’s Craze (for beatbox flute), and Goi’s Qart Hadasht (for alto flute and guitar).

As well as flute playing, Jessica is an avid writer and is extremely interested in the crossover between words and music. Recently, she has finished a libretto based on the Greek myth of Medusa; herself and composer Goi Ywei Chern are working together to realise this opera, aiming for production in Spring 2025. She is a co-founder of the Iorsa Collective, a group aiming to create accessible, collaborative spaces where classical music can be enjoyed amongst other artforms.

instagram - @goiyweichern

website - www.goiyweichern.com

Goi Ywei Chern (b. 1996) is a Singaporean composer and guitarist currently based in London. He is undertaking a DMus (Composition Route) in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the supervision of Professors Richard Baker, Matt Kaner, and Julian Anderson.

Goi has taken part in numerous performances and competitions, winning the 11th International Antonin Dvorak Composition Competition (Senior Category) in 2023 and the Leong Yoon Pin Composition Competition in 2016. His compositions have been performed in Singapore, London, Leeds, Bangkok, and Ayrshire.

He previously studied in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) School of Music, receiving his Diploma in Music Performance in 2016 and NAFA-RCM Undergraduate degree (funded by the OCBC Local Undergraduate Scholarship) in 2019, and the Royal College of Music, where he achieved a Distinction in the Master of Music in Composition degree . He has studied the guitar under Manuel Cabrera II and Hunter Mah and composition under Dr Zechariah Goh, Professor Kenneth Hesketh, and Professor Alison Kay.

Goi participated in MusicFest Aberystwyth in 2019, and he was selected as one of eight composers to participate in The Cumnock Tryst International Summer-School for Composers 2024 under the guidance of Sir James MacMillan and Oscar Bettison, where his piece Charybdis for contrabass clarinet and string trio was performed on the Dumfries House estate. Also in 2024, his song, Letter from Heaven, composed for the Composers & Poets Forum Showcase: A Leeds Songbook in collaboration with poet Yvonne Ugarte, who wrote the lyrics, was performed in the Leeds Lieder Festival.