New Chen Yi Work to Premiere at Divisional Conferences

One of the features of the upcoming seven divisional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association will be the premiere of the latest work in the Raymond R. Brock Memorial Choral Composition Series.   The work commissioned for the 2012 conferences is “Distance Can’t Keep Us Two Apart,” by Chen Yi.

“When I received the invitation from Tim Sharp, the Executive Director of ACDA, to write the piece, I was deeply touched by what the ACDA has done in the past half century, to deliver universal love, to unite people from different backgrounds, and to develop our cultural tradition in the society through choral singing.” Said Yi. “I selected two lines from a poem by a Chinese poet Wang Bo in Tang Dynasty as the text of my piece:  If I have a friend who knows my heart, Distance can’t keep us two apart.  These lines have been popularly used among Chinese people to share their friendship, love, trust and encouragement. I was deeply inspired and encouraged by ACDA’s vision towards the 21st century in improving our education and communication for the new world through our music making and creation. I hope that my music could serve as a bridge, to improve understanding between people from all cultures.”

“We are thrilled and honored that a composer of Chen Yi’s artistry and stature would share such remarkable talent with our members through this new composition,” said Tim Sharp.  “The nearly simultaneous premiere of Professor Yi’s work will be an exciting experience.”