Asian American / Asian Research Institute
The City University of New York
Lecture recital on Chinese songs from the musical heritage of Han to the present. This lecture recital will focus on three main areas:
(I) Different types of Chinese songs and their historical backgrounds–Ancient, Folk and Contemporary Art
(II) Significant Chinese traditional singing techniques versus Western classical styles–Throaty/nasal versus Open/mask
(III) Demonstration of live performance
Eugenia Oi Yan Yau is assistant professor of music at Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City University of New York. At BMCC, she teaches private voice and directs choirs including the BMCC Select Chorus which she founded in the spring of 2005. In addition, she has been directing the Pace University Downtown Chorale since fall of 2005.
Prior to her career in the East coast, Yau was the director of music at Olivet College (Michigan) and also taught at Southwestern College (Kansas). At SC, her experiences in global music and cultures, led to her appointment as director of Global Voices, an ensemble that she conceived and developed in 2002.
Besides her teaching duties, Yau maintains an active schedule of presenting lecture-recitals on Chinese, German and American art songs at institutions including the University of Texas, University of Michigan, National University of Singapore, Hong Kong Baptist University and De La Salle Lipa University in the Philippines. She has also performed as soloist with the Borough of Manhattan Community College Downtown Symphony Orchestra, Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, University of Texas Opera Theatre and Symphony Orchestra and Southwest Texas State University Chorale and Orchestra. This December, she will be featured as an outstanding alumnus and will perform with the Hong Kong Baptist University Chorale, Girls’ Choir and Orchestra at the university music department’s 50th anniversary celebration gala concert in Hong Kong.
Yau received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music at Hong Kong Baptist University, Master’s Degree at Texas State University, and completed a degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in vocal performance at the University of Texas at Austin. Yau also received numerous professional recognitions including the Fellowship Diploma of Singing from Trinity College of Music in London, and the Licentiate Diploma of Singing from Royal Schools of Music at London.
Jean Kim is a pianist, educator and choral conductor free-lancing in the boroughs of New York City. She holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and the Manhattan School of Music and is finishing her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. Her teachers include James Tocco and the late Constance Keene. Her chamber coaches have included Lawrence Lesser, Sylvia Rosenberg and Isidore Cohen of the Beaux Arts Trio. She has performed as a chamber pianist in Europe and throughout Canada and the United States. Her piano trio, Trio Dionysus made their New York Recital Debut at Carnegie Recital Hall with American composer Ned Rorem in attendance to hear his work. Last summer she performed in a contemporary music workshop for Eighth Blackbird and Frederic Rzewski. As a soloist she was invited to play at the Seoul National Arts Center with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra in South Korea. In addition to her dedication to music, Jean is studying music that accompanies silent films. Her dissertation will focus on the relationship between music and film as she continues to develop her skills as an improvisational player. Jean has joined as adjunct lecturer of music at Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City University of New York since beginning of this year.
Judith Thatcher has been a practicing lawyer since 1970 and is currently an attorney for the City of New York. Miss Thatcher has been involved in a variety of musical pursuits since her childhood. In addition to her experience in solo and choral singing, she plays various instruments including piano, flute and piccolo. She has been with the Pace University Downtown Chorale since 2004 as chorister and flutist.
Mingmei Yip received her PhD in musicology from the University of Paris (Sorbonne) on a scholarship from the French Government. A master performer on the qin, she has given lectures and recitals at venues such as Columbia University, Oxford University, Beijing University, the University of Paris, Amsterdam University, Oberlin Conservatory, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the China Institute in New York.
Mingmei is also a writer, her literary career began at fourteen when her essay about art was published in a literary magazine. She has published fourteen books, with two on the qin. Her latest being her 7th novel The Witch’s Market (Kensington Books) which received a glowing review from the ew York Times and her 2nd children’s book Grandma Panda’s China Storybook (Tuttle Publishing, 2014) which she both wrote and illustrated. She wrote columns for seven major newspapers and has appeared on over 40 TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and the United States. Her poems were published and performed in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the U.S.
Mingmei is also accomplished as a painter and calligrapher. A one-person show of her paintings of Guan Yin (the Chinese Goddess of Compassion) and calligraphy was held at the New York Open Center Gallery in SoHo in 2002. This exhibit was the subject of a full hour special program on CHN cable in New Jersey
Mingmei was a professor of music in Hong Kong, and in 2005, an International Institute of Asian Studies fellow in Holland. She has taught qin playing and calligraphy at two major Hong Kong Universities.