Orchestra, Deconstructed

A Brown University Music Department Honors Thesis project by Xinru Li. Advised by Professor Butch Rovan and Professor Mark Seto.

Exhibit times: Thursday, March 24, and Friday, March 25. 12pm - 8pm.

Exhibit Location: Fishman Studio. Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. 154 Angell St, Providence, RI 02906

Link to Facebook event

Featured Works

• Abendstern by Lauren Bernofsky
• Starburst by Jessie Montgomery
• "Coquetos" from Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout by Gabriela Lena Frank

Featured Musicians

• Max Pitchon, flute
• Grace Samaha, flute
• Javier Nino-Sears, clarinet
• Jason Huang, clarinet
• Maya Taylor, violin
• Rohun Rajpal, violin
• Kyoko Saito, violin
• Owen Lockwood, violin
• Bryan Huang, violin
• Julie Karam, violin
• Arman Deendar, viola
• Chloe Kim, viola
• Annie Wu, viola
• Sedong Hwang, cello
• Aaron Gruen, cello
• Camille Donoho, bass
• Susan Hasegawa, piano

Orchestra Deconstructed Artist Statement

Walk around the room. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? Try sitting on one of the chairs. Try a different chair. Try it with some friends.

As someone who has played in orchestras for almost a decade, the sudden inability to create music with other people in the same space brought about by COVID-19 was something on the top of my mind since March 2020. Throughout the past two years, I've seen efforts of recreating this magical in-person experience, or the "virtual orchestra" trend, with varying degrees of success, but these virtual reproductions all feel as though they are missing something. What exactly makes up an orchestra? Is it the music? Is it the musicians? Is it being in the same space to appreciate music as others? What would the orchestral experience be like if we slowly take away these elements?

Orchestra, Deconstructed is a year-long study of the live orchestra, drawing upon the power of technology to reimagine its very concept. Throughout this process, I began thinking not only about the physical space an orchestra takes up but also how it came to be this way. I reflected on what it means to be an orchestral musician, and what happens when orchestral musicians are no longer playing with a larger whole. I also reflected on both the beauty and resiliency of music, as well as the exclusivity and inaccessibility associated with the western orchestra.

For the pieces featured in my exhibit, I chose works composed by living female composers. Abendstern by Lauren Bernofsky depicts the Bavarian countryside at night, where the evening star - "Abendstern" - shines brightly. Starburst by Jessie Montgomery plays on the imagery of the various colors and textures of exploding stars. "Coquetos" from Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout by Gabriela Lena Frank mixes elements of Andean folk music with western classical, and draws upon love songs sung traditionally by romanceros against a vendaval de guitarras ("storm of guitars").

The theme of stars that emerged from these pieces was mostly accidental, but fitting. As you walk through and experience my exhibit, I hope you take the time to think about yourself in the space, the different pieces in this space, how the sounds interact with each other and as a larger whole, and enjoy the music.

Special thanks to

This thesis exhibit would not have been possible without the time, mentorship, and support of countless people, and I would like to in particularly thank:

Professor Butch Rovan, Primary Thesis Advisor, and Professor Mark Seto, Seconadary Thesis Advisor. And many more, coming soon :)

Brown University Music Department, Brown Arts Institute, Jen Vieira, Julia Craig, Drew Moser, Jim Moses, Jake Sokolov-Gonzalez, Emily Dolan, Sophia LaCava-Bohanan, Greg Picard, Shawn Tavares, Brown University Orchestra, Noah Montemarano, Ben Denzer, and many more

And, of course, the amazing musicians that played in my thesis :)

Made possible in part by a grant from the Brown Arts Institute