Asymptote Press Release - English
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Stephanie Chou
47 West 85th St, Apt A
New York, NY 10024
914-282-1044
CHINA INSTITUTE PRESENTS ALBUM LAUNCH CONCERT AT JOE’S PUB
CELEBRATING RELEASE OF NEW CD BY STEPHANIE CHOU
NEW CD BY ASIAN-AMERICAN COMPOSER/MUSICIAN STEPHANIE CHOU IS AN INNOVATIVE TAKE ON TRADITIONAL CHINESE MUSIC AND MODERN AMERICAN JAZZ
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December 1, 2016 (New York, NY)— On January 14, 2017, China Institute and Joe’s Pub will co-present a concert marking the release of a new album by New York-based composer, saxophonist, and singer Stephanie Chou. Chou and her ensemble will perform tracks from the CD at this live concert, which will take place at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater at 7 p.m.
The new album, ASYMPTOTE, released by DouMiao-Haricot Records, was written and arranged by Chou and combines traditional Chinese music and classical influences with American jazz and pop harmony and rhythm. It features fresh arrangements of Chinese classics, including “The Moon Represents My Heart,” “Kangding Love Song,” a tongue-twister about Eating Grapes, and a setting of one of 8th-century Chinese poet Li Bai’s most famous works. It also includes songs inspired by her love of literature and mathematics. Orchestrations feature an inventive mix of erhu (Chinese two-stringed violin), voice, saxophone, and rhythm section.
Says Chou: “I was born in the US, but my mother grew up in Taiwan and my father is Chinese-American. For this album, I explored my heritage—my roots—by combining traditional Chinese music in a jazz setting. I thought about all my early memories: Chinese tongue-twisters, traditional melodies, and recordings of guzheng pieces that my mother used to play for me – things that were so ingrained in my mind as a young kid that I’ve never forgotten them.”
The album features jazz musicians Kenny Wollesen, John Escreet, Zack Lober, and David Binney, as well as viola and erhu virtuoso Andy Lin. ASYMPTOTE is Chou’s most ambitious work to date. “My goal,” she says, “was to create global music that is artistically challenging, bold and fearless, and which presents a unique musical perspective.”
Chou, 29, grew up in Irvington, New York, playing piano and saxophone. She has performed her music from New York to Taipei and Beijing, in music festivals around the world, at Carnegie Hall and B.B. King’s, Vermont’s Discover Jazz Festival, Harlem Festival of the Arts, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Her 2012 ballet composition “C for G” was commissioned and choreographed by Susan Jaffe, legendary American Ballet Theater Principal Dancer (1980-2002) and former Ballet Mistress for ABT.
Recently, Stephanie Chou received a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music Grant from the American Composers Forum to write, record, and premiere a new composition with China Institute. The new work will be a musical exploration of Chinese “comfort women” enslaved by Japanese troops during World War II.
The album launch for ASYMPTOTE at Joe’s Pub on January 14 will also mark Chou’s first concert of the 2017 season.
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Stephanie Chou presented in association with China Institute
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Doors open at 6pm, Show at 7pm
For TICKETS: call 212-967-7555, online at www.joespub.com, or in person at the Public Theater or Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette Street).
Show will feature Stephanie Chou on voice/alto saxophone, Andy Lin on erhu/viola, Kevin Hays on piano, Kenny Wollesen on drums/percussion, and James Wordsworth on background vocals.
For more information on Stephanie Chou, please visit www.stephaniechoumusic.com.
The ASYMPTOTE CD is available in hard copy from www.stephaniechoumusic.com, and through iTunes, Apple Music, and Amazon.com.
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“Stephanie Chou is a genuine triple-threat in the music business. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays alto saxophone and piano at the level of virtuosity, and also sings in an expressive, highly personable manner with a wide range. Chou’s work challenges expectations and defies categorization, but its brilliance in terms of conceptualization and performance makes the music compelling and wholly enjoyable listening. The emotions in her soundscapes are real threads of the human drama…Simply exquisite, the instrumentalists and Chou’s vocals [are] placed perfectly in the arrangements to create an unmistakable mood.”
— The Gazette, 8/18/16, Thomas Staudter
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