Review

Taiwanese American composer Ying-Chen Kao received her B.M. in theory and composition from the University of Miami and M.M., Postgraduate Studies in composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She studied composition with Wen-Tze Lu, Christopher Theofanidis, and Michael Hersch; piano with J.B. Floyd and Ernest Ragogini. Notable commissions include the Peabody Children’s Chorus, REDSHIFT ensemble, Pictures on Silence, AM/PM Saxophone Quartet, Michael Kannan, Jenny Lin, Donald Sutherland, and Gary Thomas. She is also an active graphic/web designer. Her solo trombone works, Ancient Memory and Transmutation were commissioned by Huai-En Tsai, for the 2008 Summer Trombone Workshop in Taiwan. Both pieces were obligatory repertoire for the competition.

The composer describes Ancient Memory as follows:
The idea behind this piece is to imitate Asian folk-sounding musical styles. Feather beaming, tone bending, and grace notes are the featured elements used to express and imitate these styles. One should imagine a folk singer who sings with an untrained, honest voice that possess natural beauty.

This short piece, under four minutes, is available in a tenor or bass trombone version. There is an expert rendition on YouTube by tenor trombonist Tsung-wen Kao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaXXWtYF4wA&t=20s The notation is beautifully printed, fairly straightforward, with numerous dynamic indications and  articulations. This is good music that assigns the trombone a role that has been little explored but works beautifully in this context. A brilliant high school level performer or an advanced undergraduate level player with good, musical imagination, should be able to cope with its technical requirements.