REMIX Programme 2

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Kyle

REMIX Programme 2 presents a cross-cultural concert reimagining major works through new instrumentation and contemporary authorship. The programme pairs Carl Maria von Weber’s Chinese Overture and Puccini’s Signore, Ascolta! with world-premiere pieces by Dasom Baek and Beibei Wang, explored via layered timbres spanning Korean daegeum and sogeum, Chinese percussion, and piano. Between arias and instrumental works, Alex Tay’s BLINKER addresses representation, misogyny, and racist “race change” imaginaries, ending with testimony-grounded anger and reflection.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Programme

Works and world premieres

Featured reimaginings: Chinese Overture and Turandot

BLINKER: text and themes

Estampes: Pagodes

Tangram and AsianComedyShowcase 3&4FEB2026 LSOSt Luke’s REMIX photo by MikeSkelton REMIX Programme Carl Maria von Weber Chinese Overture ( arr. Alex Ho) Giacomo Puccini Signore, Ascolta! ( arr. Alex Ho) Dasom Baek Nothingness: Dasom Alex Tay BLINKER ( world premiere) text by Alex Tay & Enyuan Khong-Interval Claude Debussy Estampes: I. Pagodes Nik Bärtsch Modul 5 ( arr. Rockey Sun Keting) Dasom Baek Invisible Martin Denny / Yellow Magic Orchestra/Jennifer Lopez Firecracker ( arr. Rockey Sun Keting) Dasom Baek 다리 ( Dari) ( world premiere) Beibei Wang Credo in Credo ( world premiere) Performers Dasom Baek daegeum and sogeum Junyan Chen piano Beibei Wang percussion Hannah Dienes-Williams soprano Comedians *sorted in performance order Sam See host/ comedian Blank Peng comedian Jen Zheng comedian Jinhao Li comedian Ken Cheng comedian Visual PK & Chang Meng Supported by CHINESE OVERTURE CARL MARIA VON WEBER ARR. ALEX HO Let ʼ s start at the beginning. Carl Maria von Weber ʼ s 1804 work is documented as the first piece of Western classical music to use a Chinese folksong. Weber came across the melody in Jean-Jacques Rousseau ʼ s 1768 Dictionnaire de Musique and used it to evoke China as an exotic , imagined land. Meanwhile , the folksong ʼ s cultural origins , meaning and contexts have been forgotten . The Chinese Overture was composed to accompany Carlo Goz zi ʼ s play , Turandot , which tells the same story that would later inspire Puccini ʼ s opera . Tonight , Weber ʼ s composition is reimagined for Korean daegeum and sogeum , Chinese percussion and the European piano . SIGNORE ASCOLTA GIACOMO PUCCINI ARR. ALEX HO Puccini ʼ s much-loved opera , Turandot , reaches its centenary this year . Turandot imagines ancient China with characters called Ping , Pang and Pong. It portrays the character , Liù , as a submissive slave girl who unwaveringly loves Prince Calaf. Signore, Ascolta! ( ' My Lord, Listen! ' ) is Liù ʼ s aria . She sings of her love for Calaf , using a Chinese folksong Puccini heard on a music box to reveal her character ʼ s lack of agency , which ultimately culminates in Liù killing herself for him . Alex Ho 무 (無): NOTHINGNESS DASOM BAEK Nothingness is the title track of my first album. The piece explores the idea that life can be filled with countless elements, yet ultimately amount to nothing. In Korean traditional music, Ssitgim is a shamanic ritual from Jeolla Namdo that “cleansesˮ the spirits of the dead and guides them to Heaven. These spirits no longer exist in the physical world. Although the music is constructed from many layers and diverse sonic elements, it ultimately dissolves into nothingness. Dasom Baek BLINKER ALEX TAY TEXT: ALEX TAY & ENYUAN KHONG Blinker is about the jarring dissonance of seeing yourself represented in classic literature as subhuman. The piece begins with a passing quote from Virginia Woolf 's To The Lighthouse where a character is described unfavourably as having "little Chinese Eyes ". What follows is our attempt to understand how one of the greatest minds of the 20th century could have set that phrase to paper. In it, we pettily enact our revenge by re-imagining her as a modern caricature which sees"Chinese Eyes " as the object of her fetishisation. Unintellectualised, her parlance parrots those who today seek to surgically alter their features in order to turn Asian, the RCTA or Race Change To Another Community. Doubles, mirrors and splintered selves abound throughout Blinker. In A Room of One ʼs Own, Woolf perceives the function of women as a funhouse mirror used to prop up the status of men in society and ensure the smooth running of the patriarchy. We mirror this mirror, to reflect the violence done to a sense of self as we form ourselves in a world that is discordant to us, and the effect this has on a personʼs psyche. This is a farce of violent camp that pits parts of ourselves against each other th

FAQs

REMIX Programme 2包含哪些主要作品？

节目包含Carl Maria von Weber《Chinese Overture》（arr. Alex Ho）和Giacomo Puccini《Signore, Ascolta!》（arr. Alex Ho），并加入多首世界首演作品与改编曲目，如Dasom Baek《Nothingness》及《BLINKER》等。

《Chinese Overture》如何被重新演绎？

讲述中指出，原作源自韦伯在Rousseau音乐词典中发现的中国民歌旋律，用来唤起“想象中的中国”。本场则把该构想改写为适配Korean daegeum和sogeum、Chinese percussion与欧洲钢琴的当代表达。

Alex Tay的作品《BLINKER》关注什么主题？

《BLINKER》聚焦经典文学中将“Chinese Eyes”描写为低等形象所带来的刺痛与羞辱，并以戏仿与镜像结构追问自我表征、父权暴力以及当代“Race Change To Another Community”的欲望与商品化机制。

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Kyle