Sprout

Sprout was written for Jing-Mu Kuo (guzheng) and C-Camerata Taipei. During our collaboration, Jing-Mu invited me into his sonic universe, where I was privileged to discover his incredible virtuosity and agility. His ability to switch between radically varied sounds inspired me to entrust the guzheng with different musical characters throughout the piece: from icy harmonics to insistent, rhythmic pounding, sometimes even taking on the role of a percussionist. The guzheng’s wide-ranging palette is the central kernel from which the rest of the music sprouts: the solo guzheng expands to a duo with pipa, which in turn expands to include the whole ensemble in a rhythmic adventure.