Sound of Cowbell

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Sound of Cowbell was commissioned by Christopher Janwong McKiggan as part of his “Resonance of Hope” project.  I began work on the piece in February 2014 and completed it in April of the same year.  The piece is a rhapsody on a North Korean folk song sent to me by the North Korean pianist and composer Cheol Woong Kim.  After reading about Kim’s remarkable story of growing up in North Korea, being nearly jailed for playing popular music, fleeing the country illegally, and working in manual labor in China before finally ending up in South Korea, I was astonished by what he had been through and the conditions in his home country.  I dedicate this work to Kim and all North Koreans who are currently living under such oppression that do not have the freedom to listen to or create the kind of music that they want, among other severe restrictions.

Premiered April 1, 2015 by Christopher Janwong McKiggan at Rice University, Houston, TX.

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