Fall 2025 IU-Taiwan Faculty & Guest Concert

Yu Chen is a recent graduate of the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University. His research in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Lab focused on how technology can enhance natural experience in urban environments in the audio aspect. He noticed that while our cities often have beautiful parks and green spaces, the noise of daily life can overwhelm the subtle, natural soundscapes of birdsong, rustling leaves, and chirping insects. This sensory disconnect can make us feel isolated from the very nature we seek out. To address this, Yu has been developing a mobile application designed to enrich our experience of nature since 2024. The app uses augmented reality to reintroduce the sounds of local wildlife into urban green spaces, reminding us to listen more closely to the world around us. Through his work, Yu hopes to help people not only hear the natural world more clearly but also raise their environmental awareness. 

For this event, he has developed Birdsong of the Island: Create Your Soundscape, an interactive web application that allows audiences to create soundscapes using birdsongs commonly found in Taiwan. The application’s core design enables audiences to drag, drop, and move diverse birdsongs within a virtual island soundscape. Audiences can choose where to "land" on the island, and then freely manipulate the position of the bird songs in real-time. This interactive functionality creates a dynamic, unique, and playful auditory experience. Audiences can choose to wear headphones to immerse themselves in a personal soundscape,or play with phone speakers to create a shared soundscape with others. The project reflects his passion for integrating sound, nature, and technology into a distinctive auditory experience, and will be accompanied by a live performance featuring bird flutes and/or bird whistles. 

This performance reimagines Louis Couperin’s Le Rossignol en Amour and Double du Rossignol—two 17th-century French harpsichord works inspired by the song of the nightingale—through the lens of Yu Chen’s Island Birdsong: Create Your Soundscape (2024), a digital installation that invites audiences to compose their own soundscapes of Taiwan’s native birds. 

Here, Baroque imagination meets contemporary ecological sensibility. The delicate ornamentation of the harpsichord and recorder intertwines with the airy timbre of the Chinese dadi and the theorbo’s resonant strings, evoking an environment where acoustic and digital birdsongs coexist. Together, these works remind us that across centuries, the human desire to listen, imitate, and re-enchant nature through sound remains timeless. 

Corey Chang, described as “a major composer, maybe even the major composer of his generation” by The Millbrook Independent, is an American composer, pianist and educator currently based in Bloomington, Indiana. As the recipient of a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and the Indiana University New Music Ensemble Commission Award, Chang has had his music workshopped and performed by many top musicians and ensembles, both nationally and internationally. Chang holds dual degrees in Composition and Mathematics from Bard College, a Master’s Degree in Composition from The Juilliard School, and a doctoral degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he was an Associate Instructor of Composition. He currently serves as the Director of the Jacobs Composition Academy Summer Intensive and an arranger for Good Beats in Washington, DC. 

The meaning of the piece title, Is There Even An Answer? is left up to the listener’s interpretation. For myself, I have thought recently a lot about the state of our country and my frustration about how it so easily and ignorantly seems to fall under a governmental power grab led by an authoritarian executive leader. I am troubled by many right-wing political figures and charismatic influencers who distort truth, appealing to fear and prejudice to mislead the public. But these are merely my thoughts, and I certainly do not claim to have answers to them. These reflections are not meant to dictate how you should hear the piece, but rather to share the kinds of questions that were on my mind during its creation. Is There Even An Answer? does not attempt to resolve such conflicts or provide clarity – though I hope clarity is found sooner rather than later. In this way, the piece becomes less about finding solutions and more about how one views the act of searching itself. Likewise, listeners may also have their own questions that they wonder if an answer can ever be given to. If it provides greater comfort, they are welcome to set aside my thoughts to contribute their own as well. 

Ling-Huei Tsai holds degrees from Taipei National University of the Arts, Yale School of Music, and the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied with noted composers including Ezra Laderman, Martin Bresnick, Eleanor Hovda, Yen Lu, and Hwang-Long Pan. Her music has received recognition from Tanglewood Music Center, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and ISCM-Taiwan’s Music Taipei. Her work Hái-ong Paintings won Best Arrangement at the 2018 Golden Melody Awards, while An Autumn Evening in the Mountains was selected as required repertoire for NTSO 2007 Piano Competition. Ensembles such as Philharmonia Moments Musicaux, Tokyo Philharmonia Orchestra, Loop 38 Ensemble, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, and others have performed her works, including Concerto for Foot-Pressed Drums and Chai Found for Chinese Orchestra. Highlights of her recent works include Tainan Qui Dort for Nanguan musicians and Pianist (2013), Knocking Down the Flag for male choir (2013/2015), Chin Thoughts XII - LTPW for Beiguan ensemble (2023), PianTasia for Eight Pianists (2024), and Worry Be Gone for Pipa (2024). Since 2003, Tsai has taught music theory at Taipei National University of the Arts, drawing deeply on traditional music resources and cross-disciplinary collaborations. She has led international exchange projects in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., including Silent Film Music (Thailand 2011), Lion Dance and Traditional Music (Hawaii 2013), Taiwan Sai Meets Balinese Barong (Indonesia 2014), Fragrance of Living Water (Vietnam/Cambodia 2018–19), and TRAIECT III (Germany-Taiwan 2021). Tsai currently serves as the president of Taiwan Yale Ensemble and chairs the Taiwan Composers Association. 

Shadows of Breath is written for nose flute, viols, and harpsichord—an unusual combination that merges fragile breath with resonant strings and bright keyboard colors. The nose flute, played only by directing air through the nostrils, produces soft, airy tones that seem to hover in space. Against this, the viols weave dark, sustained lines that stretch like shadows, while the harpsichord adds crisp pulses and shimmering textures, outlining patterns of light and movement. The piece does not follow a traditional narrative. Instead, it unfolds in fragments: a breath begins, falters, and resumes; a phrase appears, then dissolves into silence. At times the players are asked to improvise around skeletal melodies, creating an atmosphere that feels spontaneous, as if the music itself were breathing. Listeners may sense shifting images—a shadow flickering on a wall, a trace of breath in cold air, a sound that lingers after it has vanished. Through this interplay, Shadows of Breath becomes a meditation on presence and absence, reminding us that even the most delicate gestures can leave lasting impressions. 

Hsuan Chang Kitano is adjunct lecturer in fortepiano and harpsichord at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she has been on faculty since 2013. As a producer, Kitano leads the Cadenza initiative, a project exploring identity, creativity, and intercultural collaboration through music. Her work integrates diverse cultural traditions with improvisational practices from seventeenth- to nineteenth-century Europe and Asia. Albums she has produced have received recognition including a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package, as well as nominations for Best Global Traditional Music Album, Best Producer, Best Arrangement, and Best Crossover Album at the Golden Melody Awards. Her versatility extends to composition, with three of her musicals written for children receiving awards from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. Kitano has appeared on stages across Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Italy, and the United States. She earned Master of Music in Piano Performance and Doctor of Music in Fortepiano and Harpsichord Performance degrees from the Jacobs School. She has studied with Robert Levin at Harvard University, focusing on Mozart’s improvisation, and has been recognized through awards including wins at the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra/Early Music Institute Concerto Competition and the Early Music Institute Concerto Competition. In addition to her musical achievements, Kitano is a freelance curator, bringing her interdisciplinary expertise to exhibitions and projects that highlight the intersection of art, music, and culture.  

From Bamboo to Silver (2025) traces a sonic continuum of flutes across cultures and centuries. The journey begins with the warm, organic resonance of traditional Chinese flutes, shaped by temple acoustics and natural soundscapes. A Renaissance flute then enters to the tolling of Italian church bells, transporting the listener across continents and bridging early European traditions with contemporary sensibilities. 

As figuration paying homage to La Flûte de Pan by Jules Mouquet emerges, it ushers in the metallic brilliance—and modern chaos—of the silver flute. Recorded sounds from Taipei intertwine with the live instruments: urban fragments such as whistles, bus stops, and the familiar tune of Für Elise played by the passing trash truck. Each instrument invites listeners to perceive both contrast and continuity, weaving dialogues between cultures, histories, and materials. 

Composed especially for flutists Pei-San Chiu, Miyo Aoki, and Hsiao Feng Lin—whom Kitano has known for over fifteen years—this work is both a reunion and a celebration of enduring friendship. It offers a rare opportunity for kindred artists to share the stage once again, transforming their long musical camaraderie into sound. Ultimately, From Bamboo to Silver honors the universality of musical expression while embracing the distinct voice of each performer—a journey across time, geography, and material that culminates in a golden present, attentive to the world we inhabit today. 

Younje Chois a composer and eco-sonic artist who organically connects life and art through deep reflection and a keen sensitivity. His philosophy is shaped by a profound contemplation of the respectful and balanced relationship between humans, nature, and all living beings; a deep interest in the emotions and unique ways of being of animals; insights into healing oneself and purifying the world and the human spirit; and the existential question, “Who am I, and what essence should humanity pursue?” This philosophy is inseparable from his nature and way of life, and rather than conveying a deliberate message, it naturally permeates his works. He has a particular interest in human emotions and psychology, carefully observing how every sound and event in music forms emotions and brings about change within the listener. His belief that music and emotion are inherently intertwined runs throughout his creative work, becoming another way in which his philosophy meets the audience. While rooted in traditional compositional techniques, he merges them with new musical vocabularies and expressions to build his own language, extending this approach in electronic music to explore new possibilities in sound and structure. Each work carries its own distinctive mood and texture, inviting the audience to experience both introspection and emotional resonance. Currently pursuing his doctorate in the United States and active across Korea, Europe, and the U.S., he reconfigures impressions and sensibilities drawn from diverse environments and experiences within his own aesthetic, creating works that continually explore the questions and possibilities art can pose to both society and the individual. 

Chloromnesia is a coined word combining "Chloro," from the Greek chloros, meaning green and life, and "Mnesia," from mnēsis, meaning memory. Here, “Chloro” goes beyond color to represent the living energy flowing through plants and the quiet breath of nature itself. The title imagines the plant as a sentient being that absorbs, remembers, and breathes the invisible traces of the world. Humans and plants are connected within a single flow of life energy and electrical currents. Although natural objects may sometimes appear inert to human eyes, their cells are alive—constantly responding to even the slightest stimuli through subtle electromagnetic changes. This work seeks to reveal those hidden, living responses through the fusion of electronic technology and art, presented in both sound and vision. There is no written score for this piece. Instead, the performance is based on real-time interaction between a living plant and the performer. A soil-inserted sensor captures changes in conductivity as the performer approaches or touches the plant. Before each performance, the sensor is calibrated in Max/MSP by setting its minimum and maximum detection values. Based on this range, the data is scaled and subdivided to allow for finer sensitivity and more nuanced sonic responses.This calibration ensures that subtle changes in proximity or gesture produce distinct musical outcomes, making the plant an active co-performer. In Chloromnesia, each leaf and cell is imagined as sensing the world’s phenomena as electrical signals and storing them as memories. At the beginning of the piece, the plant responds delicately to human presence, creating a moment of mutual perception and subtle interaction. It then recalls the beautiful memories it has held within the vastness of nature over time, expressing them through sound and offering a meditative resonance. At times, it also gives voice to the pain and scars left by human actions, quietly echoing the long history of destruction and pollution. Through this work, I hope to reflect on the relationship between nature and humanity—and to dream of a world where nature is once again cherished. 

An-Ni Wei is a Taiwanese composer whose works span classical, contemporary, electroacoustic, film, and musical theater. Her music often engages with contemporary social issues and seeks to connect with audiences through the interplay of sound and multimedia. Central to her artistic vision is the act of storytelling—creating vivid imagery and narratives that unfold in the listener’s imagination. 

* An-Ni Wei is the recipient of the 2025 EASC Taiwan Studies Student Summer Travel Grant. 

Everlasting Summer Heat (2025) is written for an improviser, live electronics, and a performer, capturing my impression of Taiwan’s summer. Every return to the island, the intense heat and humidity—from sweat clinging to my T-shirt after just a few minutes outside—immediately makes me feel at home. Childhood memories of rushing to school, wandering night markets, and the mingling scents of food and summer air inspire the work. During the performance, the performer speaks impressions of summer and imagines conversations with friends at a night market, creating a vivid, everyday-life experience. Through this piece, we aim to preserve longing, textures of daily life, and the playful spirit of exploring Taiwan’s vibrant streets, letting both performers and audience feel the distinctive charm of a Taiwanese summer. 

Equally inspired by science and spirituality, William Hawkins (b. 1997) finds material in fluid dynamics, microbiology, modern hubris, and spiritual meditations. The inexplicable connections and creations possible in a subliminal mindset drive his compositional method. A composer, conductor, violist, vocalist, and visual artist, as well as an emerging performer and composer of electroacoustic music, Hawkins explores the extremes of musical density, often utilizing dramatic contrasts to find new paths toward catharsis. Hawkins has had works performed by chamber groups including the American Modern Ensemble, TAK ensemble, Mivos Quartet, the Momenta Quartet, the Neave Trio, the Walden School Players, and violinist Nigel Armstrong. His work has also been presented at the Brevard Music Center, Mostly Modern Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Alba Music Festival, and the Walden Creative Musician’s Retreat. His song cycle Looking Up won third place in the American Prize professional division for vocal chamber music, and his orchestral piece Catalyst Nimbus was named in a group of top contenders for the 2022 American Composers Orchestra Earshot competition. Hawkins holds a BA in Music from Brown University and is pursuing a master’s in composition and computer music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studies composition with Don Freund and electronic composition with Chi Wang and John Gibson. He previously studied with Gabriel Jenks, Eric Nathan, Wang Lu, Dalit Warshaw, and Rodney Lister. 

Spelling Out Taiwan (2025) describes the linguistic conflict amid different areas of Taiwan. A Taiwan Society lecture at Indiana University taught that there are several ways of writing down the Taiwanese language (which is not the same as Mandarin, in the same way Cockney differs from English). Mandarin calligraphy and Roman alphabet are among the most popular approaches and are accepted in different areas of the country. The rural south tends to prefer the phonetic alphabet, designed by visiting Christian missionaries, since it only requires knowing how to write down speech. Meanwhile, the Chinese-influenced urban North embraces calligraphy and aims to make it the national standard.  The conflict of making a nation is universal, and involves not only the large forces of culture, but also the experiences of individuals striving to learn, to communicate, and to be heard. In my piece, the slowly built wash of sound in the electronics represents the momentum of culture. The soloist travels both as an individual and as a member of this electronic community. With the rush of water at the end, the blockage breaks free and balance is found. 

Wyatt Cannon is a composer and multimedia artist whose whimsical and eclectic work explores sound as a medium for long-form narratives inspired by evolution, astronomy, and spirituality. Blending technology, environmentalism, and metaphysical themes, he uses electronic media to connect listeners to the physical world. He is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Computer Music Composition at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and holds a B.M. in Music Composition from the University of the Pacific. His music has been featured at SEAMUS and MOXSonic, performed by ensembles such as Earplay, Friction Quartet, ~Nois, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and showcased in his EPs Ruminations (2023) and Digital Infinities (2025). Wyatt has received awards including the Pacific Bands Composer Commissioning Award and the SF Search Composition Competition, and has participated in festivals such as Fresh Inc, VIPA, and the Emerging Composers Intensive at Hidden Valley.  

Facing the Current (2025) is a heavily improvisatory piece that places flute and narration in a shared sonic space sculpted live in Super Collider. The flute and narration are processed with comb filters, vocoders, and physical modeling. These techniques bind the voices into a textural convergence while maintaining an emotional divide. The flute reflects the narrator’s inner landscape but the two resist fusion. They drift within the same current, united by sound but divided by sentiment, sustaining a delicate tension that underlines the work’s reflection on existential dislocation. Still, the narration takes on a hopeful tone: in an indifferent universe, meaning is found in the connections we choose to nurture, not in any external meaning given by an authoritarian divinity.  

Joanna Blendulf is professor of music in baroque cello/viola da gamba at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She has performed and recorded with leading period-instrument ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. She is currently co-principal cellist and principal viola da gamba player of the Portland Baroque Orchestra. She has also performed as principal cellist of Pacific Music Works, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, and the New York Collegium. She was a principal cellist of the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas and has performed with other modern orchestras, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra.  

Blendulf is an avid chamber musician, performing regularly on major concert series and appearing on numerous recordings with her groups, including the Ensemble Electra, Ensemble Mirable, Music of the Spheres, Nota Bene Viol Consort, and Wildcat Viols. She appears as a frequent guest viol player with the Catacoustic Consort and Parthenia, and has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Monica Huggett, Stephen Stubbs, Matthias Maute, Bruce Dickey, and Joan Jeanrenaud. Blendulf’s world-premiere recording of the complete cello sonatas of Jean Zewalt Triemer with Ensemble Mirable was released in 2004. Blendulf’s festival engagements have included performances at Tage Alter Musik Regenburg, Musica Antigua en Villa de Leyva in Colombia, the Bloomington, Boston, and Berkeley early music festivals, and the Ojai Music Festival, as well as the Carmel and Oregon Bach Festivals. She is also sought after as a teacher and chamber music coach and has served as a classroom and private instructor at the University of Oregon and the Berwick Academy. As an active member of the Viola da gamba Society of America, she teaches regularly at viol workshops such as the annual Conclave, Viols West, and Young Players Weekend, and has served as a national Circuit Rider teacher. She holds performance degrees with honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Jacobs School of Music, where she earned a Performer's Certificate for her accomplishments in early music performance. 

Benjamin Gittens is a pianist and harpsichordist. Most recently, he has performed in various concerts with his wife, Danqi Zeng as both a harpsichord/baroque violin duo and modern piano/modern violin duo in Guangzhou and Shanwei, China. He has performed concerti with the Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Indiana University Baroque Orchestra, and the Southern Adventist University Orchestra. He received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, and two Master of Music degrees from the University of Michigan in Piano Performance and Chamber Music Performance, respectively. He is currently completing two Doctor of Music degrees at Indiana University in Piano Performance and in Historical Performance (Harpsichord) with minors in Music History and Fortepiano Performance. Currently, he is serves as organist at the Brown County Presbyterian Church in Indiana. He studies piano with Arnaldo Cohen and harpsichord and fortepiano with Jonathan Oddie.  

Pei-San Chiu is an internationally acclaimed Taiwanese flutist and educator. She debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2012 as first-prize winner of the Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition and has performed across the United States, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, and Singapore in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings. From 2013 to 2016, she served as principal flute of the Lexington Philharmonic, garnering praise for her “character and vitality” (Lexington Herald-Leader), and has performed as guest principal with the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, Guangzhou Symphony, and Shenzhen Symphony. A passionate advocate for contemporary music, she has commissioned and premiered works by Bin Li, Tsung-Jen Hsieh, Mei-Chun Chen, Zhou Tian, and Yu-Chun Hu. Her solo album Air, featuring works by female composers, was nominated for Best Art Music Album at the 2025 Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. She also performs with the Formosa Trio, Aureus Duo, and Trio 2:1, releasing albums including First Impression, Anniversary, and The Sound of Flowers. Chiu is associate professor of flute at Tunghai University, where she received the 2020 Teaching Excellence Award, and adjunct associate professor of flute at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She earned Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees from the Jacobs School. Chiu continues to inspire audiences and students alike through her innovative artistry and dedication to advancing the flute repertoire and pedagogy.