Get to know composer Huang Ruo, named one of the world’s leading young composers by The New Yorker, as he talks with Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus about past projects and his A.R.T. commission, The Weeping Camel, a new production that will be co-directed by Paulus and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Jagged Little Pill), adapted from the Academy Award-nominated documentary film.
Composer Huang Ruo has been lauded by The New York Times for having “a distinctive style.” His vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese ancient and folk music, Western avant-garde, experimental, noise, natural and processed sound, rock, and jazz to create a seamless, organic integration using a compositional technique he calls “Dimensionalism.”
Huang Ruo’s diverse compositional works span from orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, and dance, to cross-genre, sound installation, architectural installation, multimedia, experimental improvisation, folk rock, and film. They include A Dust in Time: Passacaglia for Strings, created during the pandemic; An American Soldier with libretto by David Henry Hwang; the installation opera Paradise Interrupted; and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. His new opera M. Butterfly will receive its world premiere with the Santa Fe Opera in a future season.
Commission and early development of The Weeping Camel was made possible through the extraordinary support of Edward E. and Betsy Z. Cohen and the Areté Foundation.
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Join the Virtual Green Room
Following the event, ten randomly selected ticket holders, the series sponsors, and all A.R.T. donors of $500 or more will be eligible to continue the conversation “backstage” in the Virtual Green Room with commissioned artists and A.R.T. staff.
Following the event, ten randomly selected ticket holders, the series sponsors, and all A.R.T. donors of $500 or more will be eligible to continue the conversation “backstage” in the Virtual Green Room with commissioned artists and A.R.T. staff.
Videos
A Dust in Time for Solo Violin
Commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim
“No matter who you are and where you are, we are all affected by this apparently endless pandemic. Most of us have experienced moments during this global crisis where time and space seem to be slowed or frozen. For some of us, memories, feelings, and lives are forever trapped in that slowly frozen time and space. This ongoing crisis has affected our current life and maybe even our life in the future. “A Dust in Time” is written for the people affected by the pandemic, giving them a piece of music to reflect, to express, to mourn, to bury, to heal, to find internal peace, strength, and hope. This solo-violin version of “A Dust in Time” is created as part of the WPA Virtual Commissions. The piece is about 30-minutes in duration, unfolding a process and journey from darkness to light, from frozenness and motionlessness to full of life and energy.” – Huang Ruo
