30 July 2024
Berlin, Germany

Only on very few occasions have I passed Berlin by- perhaps even more so than London, this truly is the capital of classical music in the world. But I have seen the city from very different perspectives, first as a student spending my first summers abroad on my own, living in the quiet southwest of the city (and exploring the ‘scary’ East), then through various visits, speaking at a conference for Tenso – the European network for chamber choirs back in 2015, and more recently working on The Once and Future (2021) with the Berliner Philharmoniker members and more. I discovered new neighborhoods then, made new memories, saw different sides of an ever-changing city. Today, I found myself with a new vista yet again, exploring the vast Funkhaus complex in the east of the city, a pantheon to recording and perhaps also venue(s) for current and future projects.

But soon, back in Hong Kong- the first order of business, besides teaching and some new responsibilities at the HKBU Academy of Music is a soon-to-be-publicized seminar/discussion I will lead with the creative team of the latest Wayne MacGregor production, a collaboration with the West Kowloon Cultural District. In advance of a busy autumn with the world premiere of Otherhood (2022) upcoming as well as the European debut of Vivacissimo (2023) at the Zurich Kunsthaus and others, a conversation on the intervention (or, rather, intrusion?) of artificial intelligence into our creative process should be a fun way to launch the autumn.

And in the meantime, next month will come the world premiere of the new String Quartet no. 2 (2024) with the Quatuor Arod at the Festival International de Musique de Wissembourg- quite unfortunately I won’t be able to make it but far more likely will be my attendance at a performance of the same piece in yet another city I know well (from various perspectives): Firenze, in November.