Episode 104 — April 15, 2021
Cheng Jin Koh: “Twilight Hues” for viola
Performed by Jack Stulz

Composer Cheng Jin Koh watched the sunset from her small, square window every night last May. She was quarantined in Singapore and taking virtual courses at The Juilliard School from her apartment. So when she was assigned to write a new piece for viola, she knew the twilight would be her inspiration. She wanted to write yearning music that played to the rich tones of the instrument, illustrating the pink glow of her room and nostalgia she felt. Twilight Hues was born from those ideas, and this edition of the House Music series is its world premiere.

This also marks Koh’s first collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble. She’s attended many of their One Rivington concerts, like Parallax, and has enjoyed watching House Music series videos featuring music by her friend, the composer Tyson Davis. So, she sent her music to Metropolis Artistic Director Andrew Cyr to see if he’d be interested in it; the two met virtually, and the rest is history. Since moving to Paris to join IRCAM, Stulz hasn’t done a ton of collaboration with Metropolis, but recently did appear at One Rivington alongside his friend Siwoo Kim, who often serves as Metropolis’s concertmaster.

Koh and Stulz came together for Twilight Hues through the course at the Juilliard School. It was the first time Koh had ever written for viola, but Stulz found that he didn’t have to worry about her not knowing the instrument—the piece bloomed on its own from its romantic core. The two met over Zoom to workshop the piece, and it quickly came together; here, Stulz performs Twilight Hues from a studio in Paris.

Notes by Vanessa Ague

 
House Music: Bite-sized concerts recorded at homes around the world

In 2020-21, we created a weekly video series featuring short-form concerts of newly-commissioned works, supporting 208 artists around the world during the pandemic.