Vivian Fung (born 1975)
Vivian Fung was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She received her doctorate from Julliard in 2002 and currently lives in California.
Vivian Fung’s family has roots in Cambodia, and she has travelled to Cambodia, Southwest China, and Bali for her musical explorations. Her music often incorporates influences from other cultures. She has written several concertos, including two violin concertos, a concerto for two violins, a piano concerto, a flute concerto, and a harp concerto. This is her Violin Concerto No. 1 from 2011, which she has said “brings together my influence by non-Western traditional Balinese gamelan music, and my friendship with violinist Kristin Lee":
Among a variety of chamber music, she’s written four string quartets. Here’s her String Quartet No. 3 from 2013 performed by the Attacca Quartet:
About this string quartet she has written:
This work revolves around a chant that is first realized in full about a minute into the piece. Evoking non-Western song, the chant is announced by the entire quartet, highly ornamented, powerful, and tuned to suggest the microtonal tendencies found in many non-Western scales. My recent reflections on faith and spirituality come to life in this quartet as a world of varied prayers, sometimes turbulent, sometimes passionate, sung to oneself or among a crowd.
A few of her works use electronics, including this unusual 2018 composition entitled The Ice is Talking, which is played on a block of ice:
She has written how she saw glaciers in the Columbia Icefield as a child, and how a recent visit revealed how the glaciers have since receded. This composition
is an emotional reaction to that experience…. At the start, it is a celebration of the elements, taking in the beauty of a blade gliding through ice, the taps and swishes of ice being shaped into virtuosic rhythmic patterns that speak through interjections by the performer. As the piece progresses, the piece becomes more and more violent, and the instruments reflect the rage and intensity of the protagonist, with a power drill, ice picks and stabbing motions reflecting the realization of human’s ill effects on the natural landscape. It ends with dramatic flair in the hope of raising awareness to the world around us.