Lee/ Meguri - Across the Veiled Distances

Musical gestures and traditions migrate from one culture to another, from the past to the present, enriching the artistic practice of our time. A fascination with the nuances of timbre - variety of touch, articulation and gesture - links the aesthetics of ancient Chinese music with current contemporary music performance practice. Gestures common to these sound worlds, such as bending notes, grace notes, timbre transformation, harmonic resonance, fluctuating vibrato and expressive shaping of notes, different kinds of attacks, glissandi and arpeggios, reveal the connections between these diverse musical idioms. In the music of Hope Lee, subtle sonic transformation via meaningful gestures is an essential aspect in her musical sensibilities and expression. This new album focuses on Hope Lee's piano compositions from the past four decades (1979-2017). This new recording features pianist Yumiko Meguri, as well as accordionist Stefan Hussong. Both musicians are contemporary music interpreters extraordinaire: Yumiko Meguri has more than 10 albums released, ranging from Western classical to contemporary music and jazz; Stefan Hussong, having over 100 works written for him, is recognized internationally as a most acclaimed interpreter and recording artist of music of our time.