Jinan Laurentia Woo
What Is It?
01
Vision
Laurentia Woo founded Clexical based on her personal struggles as a young musician to find contemporary pieces to play and learn about. Her frustration with the limited resources for exploring modern music inspired Laurentia to establish a platform dedicated to enhancing access to contemporary compositions. Through Clexical, she aims to spotlight underrepresented composers, organize workshops and concerts for children with limited exposure to modern music, and explore innovative trends such as AI-generated music. Her vision drives Clexical's mission to make contemporary music more inclusive and accessible for all, creating a space where individuals can explore, learn, and grow through the power of music. This project is funded by the Alex Nair Bhak Foundation.
03
Community Outreach
Through our education outreach programs, Clexical is dedicated to democratizing music education by providing engaging and accessible learning opportunities to students in underserved communities. I have developed a comprehensive curriculum that introduces contemporary music and AI-composed music in a fun and interactive manner, tailored to the needs and interests of each community we serve. Our programs not only aim to foster a deeper appreciation for music but also to inspire creativity, critical thinking, and self-expression among students. By partnering with schools and organizations in high deprivation areas, such as El Sistema and East Harlem School, we are able to reach students who may not have had access to music education otherwise, empowering them to explore their musical potential and contribute to the vibrant tapestry of contemporary music. Through hands-on activities, workshops, and performances, we strive to create a positive and inclusive learning environment where students can discover the joy of music and unlock their artistic talents.
02
Movements
Contemporary classical music, within the Western art tradition, denotes compositions created near the current era. As of the early 21st century, it predominantly encompasses post-1945 modern expressions, emerging after the era of Anton Webern's influence, and encompasses genres such as serial, electronic, experimental, and minimalist music. Evolving trends introduce styles like spectral music and post-minimalism into this vibrant landscape.
04
Interviews With Composers
Some composers I have interviewed are Jessica Krash, Shin Kim, Curtis Stewart, Dongryul Lee, Edward Barnes, Texu Kim, Jeffrey Mumford, Michael Pisaro-Liu, Judo Greenstein, Richard Baitz, and Brad Balliet.
Interviews
December 5, 2023
Shin Kim
Shin Kim is a Master student at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Professor Dr. Rubens Askenar. Prior to that, he was studying at the Korea University of Arts in Seoul with Byungmoo Lee, and for a year was student of Karlheinz Essl at the University of Arts in Vienna. In his work, he distinguishes three major themes: religion, narrative and psychological phenomena, paying great attention to making his music understandable to all audiences.
He is the winner of the George Enescu International Competition 2022 in the symphony music category.
Also, he won the 1 st prize at the concours de Genéve with his work "The song of Oneiroi". In "The song of Oneiroi", he tells the story of the dream world - and tells it to himself as the dreamer - using not words but pronunciation systems from various languages and using microphones to amplify, diversify and spatialise his music. And to make more dreamlike.
December 10, 2023
Jessica Krash
Jessica Krash is a native of Washington, DC and continues to find it an interesting and challenging place to think about worldview in music and art. She was awarded the 2010 “Wammie” for Classical Composer (Washington Area Music Association’s version of a Grammy). Her work has appeared in traditional and experimental concerts and radio in the US, Europe, and Asia, including a work for dancers and saxophones on Washington’s canal in a thunderstorm. Jessica’s 2018 chamber and vocal music CD (Albany Records) was praised by the Wall Street Journal, Gramophone, and Fanfare, was “Recording of the Month” in Voix des Arts, and was named in “10 of the Best New Releases in 2018” by The Daffodil Perspective. Her solo piano CD (Ravello/Capstone Records) was listed by Tim Page in The Washington Post and Detroit News as one of the most interesting recordings of 2006.
January 10, 2024
Curtis Stewart
Praised for “combining omnivory and brilliance” (The New York Times), four-time GRAMMY Award-nominated violinist and composer Curtis Stewart translates stories of American self determination to the concert stage. Tearing down the facade of “classical violinist,” Stewart is in constant pursuit of his musical authenticity, treating art as a battery for realizing citizenship. As a solo violinist, composer, Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, professor at The Juilliard School, and member of award-winning ensembles PUBLIQuartet and The Mighty Third Rail, he realizes a vision to find personal and powerful connections between styles, cultures and musics. Stewart’s 2023 album of Love., a tribute to his late mother Elektra Kurtis-Stewart, has been nominated under Best Instrumental Solo in the 2024 GRAMMY Awards.
January 5, 2024
Dongryul Lee
Seoul-born Chicago based composer Dongryul Lee (이동렬 [iː doŋ ɾjəɾ], pronouns: he/him) crafts music that entwines the acoustical nature of sounds with clarity, pathos, and reinvented classical expressions. Embracing the joy of rendering ludic permutations or interstellar sonic fables, he aspires to reach the human spirit through epistemic journeys. The dual identities of his backgrounds, a Korean immigrant living in the States, a born Catholic and learned Buddhist thinker, and a composer with a computer science degree, also greatly influence his musical language. He finds inspirations in spiritual, literary, and scientific elements, encompassing a diverse range of topics from Borgesian poetics and Jungian Philosophy to Number Theory, Deep Learning, and Engineering Campanology, oftentimes employing yearlong in-depth interdisciplinary research.
February 2, 2024
Edward Barnes
The composer and/or producer of over 50 works for the stage, concert hall, radio and recordings, EDWARD BARNES is the winner of Guggenheim, NEA and NY Foundation for the Arts fellowships, and the Stephen Sondheim Award for the “creation of innovative musical theater.” He has served as Executive Director of Gotham Chamber Opera, Producing Director of MasterVoices, and Managing Director of American Lyric Theater, and is currently a lecturer at The Juilliard School.
Extraordinarily talented in the realm of dramatic musical ideas. Barnes is obviously sensitive to the poetry and music to be found in commonplace circumstances and knows how to transmute them into a work of art.
- The New York Timesz
February 8, 2024
Texu Kim
Texu Kim (b.1980) is “one of the most active and visible composers of his generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice), writing music that’s fun, sophisticated, and culturally connected. Drawing on his personal affinity for humor, his background in science, and his fascination with everyday experiences, Kim’s work radiates positivity, offering “major-league cuteness” (Broadway World) while demonstrating “surprising scope.” (San Diego Story) As a Korean-American, Kim explores the localization of imported traditions, incorporating cross-cultural elements into his work in “impressive and special” ways so that “many orchestras and conductors around the world are taking an interest in [his] music.” (KPBS) By highlighting the interaction between folk culture and external influences, Kim creates meaningful depth while maintaining a signature playfulness and exuberance that is listener-friendly and engaging. Characterized by “exuberant, colorful washes of sound… punchy bass lines, snappy brass fanfares, and suave... solos” (San Diego Story), Kim’s music is at times “explosively virtuosic” (Wall Street Journal) but always uplifting and rewarding for both listeners and performers.
January 28, 2024
Michael Pisaro-Liu
Michael Pisaro-Liu (born, Michael Pisaro, 1961 in Buffalo, New York) is a guitarist and composer and a long-time member of the Wandelweiser collective. While, like other members of Wandelweiser, Pisaro-Liu is known for pieces of long duration with periods of silence, in the past fifteen years his work has branched out in many directions, including work with field recording, electronics, improvisation and ensembles of very different kinds of instrumental constitution.
Pisaro-Liu has a long-standing collaboration with percussionist Greg Stuart, with over thirty collaborations (pieces and recordings) to date, including their 3-disc set, Continuum Unbound from 2014 and Umbra & Penumbra for amplified percussion and orchestra premiered by the La Jolla Symphony in February, 2020. Pisaro-Liu also has recurring (intermittent) duos with Christian Wolff, Keith Rowe, Taku Sugimoto, Antoine Beuger, Graham Lambkin, Toshiya Tsunoda and Reinier van Houdt.
February 7, 2024
Judd Greenstein
Judd Greenstein is a composer and advocate for the independent new music community in the US and around the world. His works for standout groups such as Roomful of Teeth, NOW Ensemble, and yMusic have reached global audiences and received widespread critical acclaim. As a founder of New Amsterdam Records and the Ecstatic Music Festival, Judd has been a leading voice in developing a genre-fluid musical infrastructure that endeavors to open new channels of participation and representation in contemporary music.
Feburary 8, 2024
Richard Baitz
Rick Baitz composes for the moving image, the concert hall, dance and theater. Credits include the award-winning documentary What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael(2018), HBO’s The Vagina Monologues (featuring vocalist Cathy Richardson), and HBO’s Life Afterlife, plus the scores for several immersive museum installations, including 24 Hours That Changed History (2016) for the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, and three soundtracks for the recently-unveiled Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, with voice-overs by Oprah Winfrey. Other media credits include, the Sundance-honored The Education of Shelby Knox, National Geographic’s acclaimed specials The New Chimpanzees, Heart of Africa and Looters; and Geoffrey Nauffts’ ground-breaking film Baby Steps, starring Kathy Bates. Rick’s concert works have been performed across the US, Europe and Latin America, with his string quartet Chthonic Dances, premiered by the eminent ensemble ETHEL in 2011, described as “a bright-hued, vigorously melodic score” by the New York Times.
Feburary 14, 2024
Brad Balliet
Brad Balliett enjoys being a musical omnivore, focusing equal parts of his career on composing, playing bassoon, and teaching artistry. Brad is principal bassoon of the Princeton Symphony, a member of Signal and Metropolis Ensemble, a founding member and former Artistic Director for Decoda, a member of the composer-collective band Oracle Hysterical, and on faculty at The Peabody Institute, The Juilliard School, and Musicambia.
As a teaching artist, Brad regularly leads composition and song-writing workshops in prisons, schools, hospitals, and homeless shelters. His work with Musicambia has given him the opportunity to guide aspiring composers and performers at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Allendale Correctional Facility, Brooklyn Detention Center, and San Quentin State Prison. With Project: Music Heals Us, Brad has led music history and composition workshops at Radgowski-Corrigan and Bain Correctional Center. With Decoda, Brad has participated in workshops for over six years at Lee Correctional Institute.