香港作曲家聯會
Hong Kong Composers' Guild
COLEMAN Christopher 高爾文
Christopher Coleman (b. 1958, Atlanta, GA) composer, conductor, trombonist, is currently Composition Coordinator of the Hong Kong Baptist University Department of Music. He has also taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul University, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He earned his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago where he studied composition with Ralph Shapey and Shulamit Ran. While at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned the M.A. in composition, he studied with George Crumb, George Rochberg, and Richard Wernick.
While most of Coleman's works are scored for traditional forces, recent efforts at Hong Kong Baptist University have resulted in two large scale multimedia/improvisation pieces: September Variations and Prophecies for a New Millennium . He has received commissions from the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia, the Hong Kong Bach Choir and Orchestra, the Hong Kong Composers' Guild, the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago-area chapter of the American String Teachers' Association, and the University of Georgia Trombone Choir, among others. He has been awarded first place in the Percussive Arts Society Percussion Ensemble Composition Contest and the ASUC/SESAC Composition Contest. His music is published by Theodore Presser, Maecenas Music, Ensemble Publications, C. Alan Publications and Crown Music Press. Coleman can often be heard on Hong kong’s public radio station RTHK Radio 4, where he frequently writes and presents programs. He has formerly served as music critic for the Hong Kong newspaper, The South China Morning Post.
Deeply interested in the creative process and trans-media creativity, Coleman also appears regularly at the TakeOut Comedy Club where he leads the People’s Liberation Improv troupe and also performs as a standup comedian. Following in the path of his father, visual artist Oliver M. Coleman, Jr., Christopher Coleman has recently begun working in sculpture and computer graphics.
Orchestral
A Jazz Funeral (2005) 8'
for Symphonic Band
A Descent Into the Maelström (1990) 12'
The Ventricle of Memory (1987) 8'
for 3 solo vn & string orchestra
Music for a Tranquil Moment (1980) 8'25"
Sinfonietta (1980) 7'30"
Chamber (Western)
Three Fugues and a Dirge for Richard III (2008) 20'
for Woodwind quintet
Politics, Money, Music (2005) 9'
for brass quintet
Dark Gardens (1999) 23'30"
for 2 ob, Eb cl, 2 Bb cl, bass cl, 2 bn, 4 hn, 2 tp & 3 tb
Ecstasy Of The Waters (1998) 13'
for pf (4 hands)
Reflections (1996) 7'
for 5 tb
Dreams of a Spirit Seer (1993) ca. 20'
for 4 perc
String Quartet #1 (1986) 18'20"
Coronach (1985) 6'40"
for 8 tb
Scampata #3: Fantasia and Bolero (1984) 13'
for bass tb & perc
Scampata #2 (1983) 16'20"
for tp, tb & pf (4 hands)
Scampata #1 (1983) 4'
for hn & tb
Abschiedslied (1982) 8'30"
for 6 tb
Lament of the Sea Kings (1982) 10'
for 8 db, echo device & amplification
Romantic Suite (1981) 18'
for 4 tb, also version for 2 tp, hn, tb & tuba
Threnody for Brass Ensemble, Percussion and Piano (1979) 10'30"
for 4 hn, 3 tp, 3 tb, baritone horn, tuba, timpani & 3 perc
Cat Spanking: a Fantasy for Percussion (1979) 8'20"
for 8 perc & pf
Divertimento for Woodwind Trio (1978) 9'50"
for ob, cl & bn
Fanfare for the Celebration of the Dead (1978) 1'40"
for 6 tb
Three Haiku (1977) 10'
for 2 db & 2 perc
Fantasy (1976), revised (1987) 5'45"
for 4 tb & tuba
Instrumental Solo
Bitter Wind (2007) 12'
for Zephyros trumpet, piano
the crystalline architecture of loss (2003) 21'
for Grand pedal harp
Palidromes for piano (2002) ca. 12'
Chants, Waves, Mutations for euphonium (2001) ca. 7'
Conundrum for piano (1983) 25'
Lament for piano (1981) 2'30"
A Game of Chants for trombone (1981) 2'20"
Capriccio for trombone (1977) 4'15"
Vocal / Choral
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song (2000) 5'
for SATB choir
America's Going to the Dickens! (1995) 3'40"
for medium voice & pf
The Maidens (1993) 5'
for solo female voice
Since Feeling is First (1993) 7'
for solo male voice & mixed choir
Chinese Baby Asleep (1991) 3'
for 4-part women's Chorus
Disappearances: Five Songs on Texts by Mary Ann Coleman (revised) (1991) 35'
for mezzo-soprano, cl/bass cl vn, vc, pf & 2 perc
The Witness (1989) 8'40"
arrangement for mezzo soprano & tape
Four Sonnets of Shakespeare (1978) 12'15"
for bass-baritone & pf
Psalm 131 (1978) 2'
for SATB Choir
Electro-Acoustic Music/ Computer Music
Rainbows, Halos, Glories (2009) 10'
for fixed media
Listening to the World (2007) 6'30"
for fixed media
My Grandfather's Kalimba (1996) 10'30"
for tape; realized on Korg 01W, Ultraproteus & Yamaha TX802
Rite (1992) 15'
for Korg 01W, Yamaha DX7, Yamaha TX802 (2 players); computer, perc (1 player), conductor & 3 dancers; also version for perc & tape
Intervention (1986) 2'
for Yamaha DX7, 2 Yamaha TX7's, & Yamaha CX5M computer
Electronic Essay #2 (1984) 5'
realized on Serge modular synthesizer and Buchla 200 series synthesizer
Electronic Essay #1 (1983) 5'10"
realized on Buchla 200 series synthesizer
Experimental Music
September Variations (2002) variable (60')
for various combinations of performers in various media
Prophecies for a New Millennium (2000) variable (60')
for various combinations of performers in various media
Improvisations Approaching the Millennium (1998) variable (15')
for 2 vn, 2 vc, fl, 2 cl, euphonium, yangqin, pf & 4 perc
In Memoriam John Cage (1992) variable
for bowed pf, crystal glasses, tam-tam & percussive sounds
Lacrimosa (1992) variable
for 2 fl, 2 cl, ob/perc, vc, 2 pf (8 hands) & 2 perc
NEWSPAPER PIECES (1990) variable
for various combinations of performers
Theatre Music
Music for the play Einstein's Blues by Peter Stambler (1996-97)
North American Quodlibet: The Song of Lost Interests 4'40"
The Immigration Blues 3'
Ballad of the Buffalo 3'20"
The Bagatelle of Judicial Betrayal 5'
The Conflict of Interest Rag 3'30
The Song Of Paradoxes 4'
The Economic Migrant Blues 4'10"
Opera Buffa: Preemptive Nutials 7'
The Post-Nuptial Agreement Aria 2'50"
The Self-Inflicted Moral Blues 4'10"
Discography
A Jazz Funeral on Postcard from Singapore (2005) Mark Custom Recording 6034 MCD
My Grandfather’s Kalimba (2004) Innova Records
Conundrum on Contemporary Eclectic Music for the Piano, vol. 7 (2003) New Ariel Recording AE007
Publications
A Jazz Funeral. Maecenas Music, 2008.
Rite. Theodore Presser Co., 2004.
A Descent Into the Maelström for orchestra. Theodore Presser Co., 2001.
Abschiedslied and Reflections for trombone ensemble. Nichols Music, 2000.
Cat Spanking: A Fantasy for Percussion. C. Alan Publications/McClaren Press, 1994.
The Ventricle of Memory. The Teacher-Composer Alliance of the American String Teachers Association,
Chicago-Area Chapter, 1988.
Capriccio for solo trombone. Crown Music Press, 1986.