Elegy

John was filming at La Jolla Chamber Society's Sumerfest tonight, so I got to go and see their "Modern Composers" concert at the North Park Theater tonight. The whole concert was a series of Asian and Asian-inspired pieces: Bright Sheng, Steve Reich, Lou Harrison, and an incredible piece by Tan Dun entitled "Elegy: Snow in June."

Like last year, when I had the opportunity to perform at Summerfest with Allyson Green during "Dancing to Beethoven," Allyson was back to put a piece of dance to one of Summerfest's concerts. This year she's doing it twice, and this was the first, swirling dancers in white, Steve Schick and his boys banging away at an incredible percussion set up, and Felix Fan, the virtuosic cellist, sitting in the middle of it all, exuding genius in all directions.

The piece was originally about an ancient Chinese execution that shouldn't have happened, a woman who was killed despite her innocence. After the massacre at Tiananmen Square, Tan Dun dedicated the piece to the students who died there, and Allyson and the musicians dedicated this performance to all victims of violence the world over.

The piece was all white, ending in all red, with video projection of lines of Chinese names filing past at different speeds. It was lovely and arresting and a gorgeous ending to a concert of strong work.

I love seeing good theater.