When Summerfest decided to explore the connection between dance and music this summer, the artistic committee – comprised of Jane Carl, Alex East, Shannon Finney, and Mary Grant – spent countless hours searching through repertoire lists, library collections, and recordings for promising repertoire. We have discovered recently that one the most extensive resources that we can draw from now is the list of music that we have already performed through our 23 years of concerts. There are nearly 400 pieces of chamber music on this list.

Summerfest last performed Stella Sung’s Dance of the White Lotus Under the Silver Moon, for flute and harp in 2005, just a few years after it was written. It was well-received by Summerfest audiences and seemed a perfect fit for this season’s theme.

Through the use of Far Eastern scale patterns, the composer evokes scenes of nature – like those portrayed on Chinese and Japanese paintings on art screens.

Since she composed this work Dr. Sung has been more active in writing for film. She has recently completed the score for the full-length documentary film Voices in the Clouds, which is receiving critical acclaim. Her music was also featured in the short animation film Atlas’ Revenge (based upon Dr. Sung’s orchestral work of the same title), which was selected as the First Place winner at the 2010 SIGGRAPH conference (Time and Space category). Dr. Sung is currently working on other film projects to be released within the next two years.

In recent correspondence with the Summerfest Artistic Committee, Dr. Sung says, “I’m really impressed by your ensemble, and it looks like you’ve got a great following and have been serving your community for several years. Keep up the great work!”

If you’d like more information on Dr. Sung’s work you can visit her website at www.stellasung.com.