20th WASBE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS, GWANGJU – SOUTH KOREA
Performed by 2024 Gwangju WASBE Festival Wind Orchestra
Conducted by Frank Ticheli
Recorded & Donated by Mark Custom
Purchase at http://www.markcustom.com/
[#282] December 16, 2024
WASBE2024 | 2021 | Wind Band | Grade 3 | 5' - 10' | Overture
A New Era, by Japanese composer Soo-Hyun Park is our Composition of the Week.
“A New Era was commissioned in August 2022 by the Osaka Korean Middle and High School Wind Ensemble and premiered in December of that year. Taking this new ensemble as an opportunity, I approached the composition with the vision of young people in a time referred to as VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity), coming together to create a future path, adding color and excitement to the world. Through discussions with the director, Mr. Ildeok Koh, I incorporated "jangdan," a traditional Korean rhythm, into the piece.
Starting with a fanfare for the future, followed by a song with love for friendship and the world, I expressed the vividness of life in a crowded world using representative jangdann, such as "Semachi Jangdan." Instead of a simple bright tone of "hope for the future," I also developed the thought that "difficulties are life, and overcoming them is also part of life." In the final section, I used the jangdan of the Yeongnam region, which I love, to a passionate climax utilizing "Pungmul" traditional style.
In this title, I encapsulated the idea of a moving world and the beauty of life rolling in that world.”
Program Notes by Soo-Hyun Park
The work has a duration of 6’30 minutes. It is scored for youth concert band setting.
A New Era has won the 54th Japan Band Directors Association Shitaya Prize in 2024.
The music is available at Bravo Music.
A New Era was performed by the Gwangju WASBE Festival Wind Orchestra, with guest conductor Frank Ticheli, on July 16, 2024, during the 20th International WASBE Conference in Gwangju-Gyeonggi, South Korea.
This recording has been donated by Mark Custom. To purchase the entire performance of the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra, please visit http://www.markcustom.com/
Soo-Hyun Park studied composition at the Osaka College of Music. His works have mainly been performed in East Asia and Europe, at events such as the 2003 Asian Music Festival, Tokyo, Daegu International Contemporary Festival 2005, and the 2011 Gaohsiong Spring Festival in Taiwan.
He won the Third ACL-Korea Composition Competition’s 2nd prize, the 15th Daegu International Contemporary Festival’s 1st prize, and the 7th All Japan Band Association Composition Competition 1st prize (Scintillating Dawn, a required piece for the All-Japan Band Competition 2015).
Park is currently a senior lecturer in composition at the Osaka College of Music and a member of the Kansai Modern Music Association and the Japan Academic Society of Wind Music.
Other Works for Winds include:
· Unknown Heroes (2019)
· Arirang Traning (2020)
· Open Universe (2020)
· Hou Yi Shou Ri (2022)
· Gyosei Stars Marching 2023 (2023)
· Gyosei Stars Marching 2024 (2024)
More on Soo-Hyun Park