On December 2 at 5 p.m. ET, the American Composers Orchestra will live-stream a conversation among composers Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Kerwin Young as part of its new “Composer to Composer” discussion series. Kerwin Young will discuss Chen Yi and Zhou Long’s co-composed work Symphony “Humen 1839” with them. The work commemorates the public burning of more than 1,000 tons of opium in June 1839 in Humen, Guangdong, which prompted Britain to declare war on China in a conflict known as the First Opium War. The “Composer to Composer” series launched on November 18 with a conversation among George Lewis, Courtney Bryan, and Damon Holzborn. The discussions are streamed at the ACO’s YouTube channel and feature different generations of American composers in conversation with each other about their work and creative lives; after the initial livestream, episodes are available on demand for one week. Attendees are invited to ask questions of the artists. Future episodes are planned beginning on January 13, 2021, with William Bolcom, Gabriela Lena Frank, John Corigliano, Mason Bates, Missy Mazzoli, and Meredith Monk, among others. The conversations will be archived by Oral History of American Music within Yale University’s Irving S. Gilmore Music Library.
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