Max I. Chung
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Bergamot Quartet Performs ‘Shadow Blending’

The Bergamot Quartet performed Max Chung's latest composition, 'shadow blending'. The piece is a delicate interplay of geologic textures and ephemeral shadows, highlighting the fleeting moments of experience and the fragility of existence and memory. As the piece unfolds, the two traces of earth and shadow become psychologically inseparable, creating a sonic experience that blurs the line between the tangible and the intangible. This work explores human perceptions, between presence and echo, exploring the boundaries between what is physically present and what remains as afterimages dissolve.

Hub New Music Composition Reading

Max Chung's latest composition, commissioned by Hub New Music and performed at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, explores the intense struggle between consciousness and unconsciousness through a vivid contrast that gradually dissolves over the course of the piece. The work, "me obruit" integrates theatrical, gestural interactions among the musicians and incorporates the performers’ gasping sounds to evoke a sense of surfacing from within.

Guinea Pigs in Bow Ties!

In this 48 hour sprint at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the composers created a new piece for the "guinea pig" musicians. Join us for this fun concert on June 29th at the Studzinski Recital Hall at Bowdoin College.

2025 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award

The ASCAP Foundation has awarded Max Chung the 2025 Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Honorable Mention. ASCAP Foundation President, Paul Williams shared, "These young composers embody the very best of the next generation in concert music...this recognition reflects their remarkable talent, vision and dedication."

SPLICE Institute Concert

Max Chung's piece, "Gestaltzerfall" will premiere on Friday June 27, 2025 at Dalton Recital Hall. Performed by the Splice Ensemble, the composition refers to a psychological phenomenon where the brain simplifies complex shapes or patterns with unfamiliar fragmentation. Livestream of the concert is available on youtube starting at 7:30 PM.

Ephemeral Blossom Premieres at NMOP

Max Chung's original composition 'Ephemeral Blossom" premiered at the New Music on the Point Festival. The NMOP quartet of flute, viola, soprano, piano, and electronics was performed in June at this music festival. This electroacoustic composition was inspired by the concept of dormancy and fleeting moments of bloom that reflect the resiliency of our ecosystem. The composition closes with the interplay of electronics and the echo of the voice reverberating in the piano soundboard to evoking the haunting transience of the ephemeral blossom; a reminder of the fragility and resilience of life itself.

mc@max-chung.com
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