Da Capo Conversations 2.0 with Ursula Kwong-Brown and Valerie Liu

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 181: Da Capo Conversations 2.0 with Ursula Kwong-Brown and Valerie Liu

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

Today we revisit Ursula Kwong-Brown’s and Valerie Liu’s perspectives on a piece of theirs that we played. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Ursula Kwong Brown and Valerie Liu, check them out here and here. Parts of this episode originally premiered in October 2024, click here, and March 2023, click here.

This podcast is made possible by grants from the California Arts Council, SF Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/18193691

Co-Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-Producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Christy Xu

Chapters

• 0:31 Today, we revisit Ursula Kwong-Brown's and Valerie Liu's perspectives on a piece of theirs that we played. Here's what Ursula Kwong-Brown had to say.
• 2:10 Here's what Valerie Liu had to say.

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our Da Capo Conversations, a mini-series where we'll be giving familiar segments a topical twist. [INTRO MUSIC ENDS] Today, we revisit Ursula Kwong-Brown's and Valerie Liu's perspectives on a piece of theirs that we played. Here's what Ursula Kwong-Brown had to say.

Nanette McGuinness  00:41

You're currently writing a piece for us for our season opener in the fall, and it's still in the early stages, but you're obviously thinking about it and kind of conceptualizing it. You have anything you'd like to tell folks about this piece that you're dreaming up for us?

Ursula Kwong-Brown  00:57

Well, right now, it's acoustic but electronically inspired. I feel like I've been inspired by, like, different electronics processing, but sort of coming full circle and putting it back, yeah, into sort of imitative gestures in the piano and like resonance ideas in the cello, and again, in the piano. I guess, I guess I'm also just inspired by, you know, I used to play piano trios when I was a kid, going to like Kinhaven Music Festival as a kid, and piano and so I, you know, I am somewhat influenced by, like the Beethoven. I just, you can't help but when you're writing something like this, like a piano trio, remembering what it's like to play them. So a combination of that, which is fully acoustic and, yeah, and feeling inspired by these electronic ideas that I want to reintegrate, 

Nanette McGuinness  01:58

It sounds really fascinating. And I neglected to mention that it is a piano trio, as you were saying. So I can't wait to see what you do with these ideas, because they do sound very cool. Here's what Valerie Liu had to say.

Valerie Liu  02:13

For The Cassandra Project, I tuned into the subject immediately. Cassandra was courageous, passionate and powerful. Her story was very inspiring to me and deeply affecting. My music will approach it from an emotional perspective, structured in four sections. The first section is meant to be powerful, passionate in character to express the idea you have this gift, you imagine this power can change the world. The second section is quiet, the more reflective, poundering on this idea not being believed by anyone with speaking the truth is perhaps worse than not being able to speak it. Your gift is your curse. You don't have peace. You start to lose hope. The third section shows power and passion returns. You feel hopeful again. The last section is really hard for me to write. The musical structure was really simple, but it was emotionally difficult. It is hunting to express the idea you have to make peace with your powerful gift, even though no one will acknowledge it, and you briefly wonder if death is the only solution to your curse, so that you can finally rest. I was thinking of Cassandra, how alone she was with her gift. But I also think it applies to an artist's lifestyle. You create an art to express, but people may not understand. They may even reject what you have created. But in the end, I think that's okay, because artists understand their gift, they believe in their work. So it is okay to be alone in this.

Nanette McGuinness  04:30

Very profound and that fits "Cassandra Effect" too. Do most of your pieces have a dramatic arc? Or was that specific to "Cassandra Effect”?

Valerie Liu  04:41

Um, majority of my piece always have some kind of dramatic arc, but Cassandra has a bigger arc. Yeah, has a bigger effect. I just really love her story and how you can relate to her.

Nanette McGuinness  05:02

Yes, a voice crying in the wilderness.

Valerie Liu  05:05

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  05:07

No, that's true. I think every woman I've spoken to relates to Cassandra and feels her to be a touch-tone in one way or another. 

Nanette McGuinness  05:14

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure's Da Capo Conversations and a special thank you to our guests for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit us at www.E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to Co-producer and Audio Engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good "measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]