2020
A SHOWER OF SUNBEAMS (world premiere, dedicated to Chloe Chung):
I wanted to capture some of the natural beauty of Sydney’s Shelly Beach,
where I spent some beautiful days snorkelling in near-solitude
during the COVID lockdowns (when beaches were reopened!) with Chloe.
On clear days, one is mesmerised by the sunlight’s dance on the ripples
of the sea, and it is easy to catch sight of the lively activities of fish in the reefs –
fish of all shapes and sizes, gliding through the water in solitude, or zipping about
in schools that behave like one big organism.
-Words by Pavle Cajic, pianist & composer
Videographer: Jeffrey Cheah, Recording: Jolin Jiang
Premiered August 30 for Dreambox Collective's "Big Blue" in support of marine conservation organisation Tangaroa Blue
Read more here.
WEATHERED (World premiere, dedicated to Chloe Chung & Pavle Cajic)
Like the Chinese Taoist saying: “上善若水，水善利万物而不争” (“The highest virtue resembles water. Water benefits all things and contends not with them”), to me, the sea is amiable and lenient. It’s timeless and still, yet constantly flowing and evolving. It touches upon all tough edges, softening them, sustaining them, watching, and waiting… Weathered was inspired by my understanding of water & ocean, and my long-lasting friendship with the flautist Chloe Chung and the pianist, composer Pavle Cajic as we spend a lot of time at Sydney beaches. I hope this piece will take you to an image of a peaceful starry night with visible sea sparkles; sea-breeze traveling through the waves; the slightly worn-out sands and rocks, and two or three good friends lying on the beach, immersed in the scenery and lost in their deep appreciation of the sea. For the video of this work, Jeff’s videography fuses the imagery from our recording date at Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre, as well as incorporating our own personal videos and water imagery from our own local waterways and beyond, that we hold dear to our hearts.
-Words by Jolin Jiang
Videography by Jeffrey Cheah, Recording/mastering by Jolin Jiang
Premiered on August 30 for Dreambox Collective concert "Big Blue" in support of marine conservation organisation Tangaroa Blue
We made this spontaneous one-take Lunar new video at the beginning of 2020, not knowing the many events that would unfold only a few weeks later. This video features my dear friend John Ling Dao (pipa) and a curious myna bird who joined in on our little jam!
This is a medley of two tunes: Kangding Qing Ge 康定情歌 (Kanding Love Song) / Jin She Kuang Wu (Dance of the Golden Snake) 金蛇狂舞.
Filmed in the Sydney Botanic Gardens, by Jeffrey Cheah.
Past performances (assorted)
Gateway to Paradise was written in 2016 in response to a commission by Chloe Chung.
Chloe Chung and Lulu Liu, both performer/researchers at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, perform the traditional Chinese instruments Dizi (bamboo flute) and Pipa (lute) respectively in this piece. I combined these two solo instruments with a string quartet. A sound world reminiscent of traditional Chinese music was created by building the melodic material out of various pentatonic scales - both the 'major' pentatonic scale (a c d e g) and the 'minor' mode (c e f# g b), which I find tinged with sadness. This first part is in two subsections, titled: Wandering: Mountains Surrounding a Cold Lake Approach: Paradise Reflected in a Lake of Swans (Fugue) The first section develops a theme in a duet between Dizi and Pipa and the second section uses this material to build a slow fugue, which builds in depth and colour before disintegrating, the instruments dropping out one by one, leaving the Pipa alone to end the first Part. Part 2 has been written and is by contrast very fast and extravagant. This recording was made at the Fourth Voces Caelestium Charity Concert (led by conductor Taesoo Kim, although I was the conductor for this piece) in St. Stephen's Church in Sydney city.
My thanks to the audio engineer who made this recording, Conan Tran (www.red-studios.com.au). Many thanks especially to all the performers: Chloe Chung (Dizi) Lulu Liu (Pipa) Yeonhee Kim (Violin 1) Kohki Iwasaki (Violin 2) Freyja Meany (Viola) Ashley Son (Cello)
Words by Pavle Cajic, 2017.
Schubert's Introduction and Variations for flute and Piano, recorded at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Franck Sonata (flute and piano arrangement by Donald Peck) played by Chloe Chung (fl) and Pavle Cajic (pno). Recorded in Recital Hall East at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music by Greg Ghavalas and Puresonics Media on 20th February 2018.