Photographs from AUGMENTED HARMONY / Piano Recital by CHUREN LI

 

AUGMENTED HARMONY

CHUREN LI, Piano

& LEYLA WEI, Visuals & Tech

Play Den & The Arts House

Saturday (17 August 2024)

There are pianists and there are innovative pianists. Singapore's Churen Li firmly belongs in the latter category. Trying to push the envelope and redefining the borders and limits of the piano recital is what she strives for. Creative programming, including original compositions alongside well-tested classics, are part of the game. Her latest recital goes beyond that by introducing new technologies to enhance the music making in what may be referred to as "augmented recitals".

Concertgoers were kept in the dark, literally and figuratively speaking, as to what was going to transpire and that was part of the surprise. Those with handphones were given a QR code to scan and they found images of themselves wearing digital reality masks, symbolic of the idea they were going to view the concert with different eyes. 

 

Accompanying each work which Churen performed were moving images projected on a screen devised by Layla Wei, which morphed into fluid shapes and patterns. These were visually stunning, augmenting the amplified piano music, which were mostly Churen's own compositions and improvisations. There were variations on familiar music by Debussy (Clair de lune), Karen Tanaka's minimalistic Techno Etudes as well as an enthralling reading of Ravel's La vallee des cloches (Valley of the Bells) from Miroirs.

George Crumb's piano pieces, utilising
string piano techniques were also included

Churen takes a breather as an AI version
of herself addresses the audience.

One of Churen's most stunning new original
works was Dream of a Panther.

It takes one of courage and conviction to dream of an augmented piano recital and this is par for the course for Churen Li, who remains one of Singapore's most intrepid and interesting musical artists.