News
Vivian Kwok Master's Piano Recital
Sending you a warm invitation to my master's piano recital held at the University of British Columbia! This is a program centered around dance and resonance, and I hold these pieces very close to my heart, so I can't wait to share it with you. Details are as follows:
When: March 31, 2024 at 7:30pm PDT
Where: Roy Barnett Hall, 6361 Memorial Rd, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z2
You can also livestream this recital here.
Program:
Prelude (2023) (Vivian Kwok)
English Suite No.2 in A minor, BWV 807 (J.S. Bach)
Preludes Op.23/2, 23/10, 32/3 (S. Rachmaninoff)
Sonata No.2 in D minor, Op.14 (S. Prokofiev)
Three Movements from Petrushka (I. Stravinsky)
March 1, 2024
International Horn Symposium 55 | ép
Taran and I appeared at our first conference as exhibitors last week! This year's International Horn Symposium was held in Montreal, which made it very convenient for a Canadian business like us, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to make our first public appearance together. We brought with us 13 scores in total: 11 original arrangements, 1 new edition of an old wind quintet, and 1 original work. Along with these scores, we also designed local-themed stickers, which became quite in demand at the conference.
Needless to say, we are extremely grateful for being received so enthusiastically at the symposium. We got to meet so many new faces and reunite with friends from across the country. I'm particularly grateful for the chance to play the horn again, even though it was just for a few minutes in the mass horn choir. It was also wonderful to hear and experience the performances of so many renowned hornists and horn ensembles. Overall, it was a brilliant week for us and all the work leading up to this was worth it.
Hope to see you again soon!
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Éditions Plamondon was founded by Taran Plamondon in 2020, providing music preparation services including creating arrangements, transcribing, engraving, and printing sheet music. Since then, ép has collaborated with many composers and performers, bringing polished scores onto music stands across Canada. The business was joined by Vivian Kwok in 2021, who is now an assistant music copyist and featured composer of ép.
For more information on Éditions Plamondon, please visit www.editionsplamondon.com.
Follow Éditions Plamondon on Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook.
July 31, 2023
Canadian Music Competition | CANIMEX
It was an honor to perform at the national final round of the Canadian Music Competition! I am grateful to be awarded Second Prize in the 23-yr age group, performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.1 with my teacher, Professor Corey Hamm. This year's finals were held at the University of Toronto, so I was able to reunite with my mentors and friends from undergrad as well. Hope to see you all again soon!
June 13, 2023
Piano Scholarship Competition | VWMS
It was a pleasure to perform at the 2023 Piano Scholarship Competition, hosted by the Vancouver Westcoast Music Society two weeks ago! I'm grateful to share that I was awarded third prize in the senior category, along with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion award for presenting my piece, "Edge." In the photos include Fergus Kwan and Hamilton Lau, who were respectively awarded first and second prize. I was also delighted to meet the adjudicators, Bogdan Dulu and Evgenia Rabinovich, as well as the president of VWMS, Tony Roper. Looking forward to more performance opportunities!
May 4, 2023
Edmonton Composers Competition | EPO
Grateful to be selected as winner of the 2022 Edmonton Composers Competition, presented by the Edmonton Pops Orchestra! The orchestra will be performing my piece, "Renewal," at the Johann Strauss Ball tomorrow evening. Check out more about the orchestra here!
April 21, 2023
What the Silence Offers | Concreamus
Delighted to share a recording of "breathe" made by Concreamus Chamber Choir! Concreamus premiered this piece in Jan 2020 and has continued to work with many emerging young composers since then. You may stream their new album at the links below!
The album is out everywhere including Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube Music, and more.
Concreamus - Instagram, Youtube, Facebook
January 25, 2023
EJB Talk Show
Happy to chat with Amiel on his channel!
January 23, 2023
SOCAN Young Canadian Composer Awards
"Distant" won 3rd Prize in the Solo & Duets category for SOCAN's Young Canadian Composer Awards! Honored to place alongside so many brilliant composers!!
My biggest thank you goes to Alex Hetherington, Geoffrey Conquer, and Fish Yu, who helped bring "Distant" to life. And of course, my sincerest thanks to the SOCAN Foundation for their recognition and support.
Check out the premiere of "Distant" here!
October 22, 2022
Changing Landscapes | Green Room Music
Announcing our final project for the concert season! Changing Landscapes is an online chamber music concert featuring 5 pieces written by composers of Green Room Music. This concert took a whole year in planning, and has faced many hurdles along the way, so we are so excited to finally share this music with you. These pieces were rehearsed and recorded in an intensive 2-week period, featuring an imaginative team of composers and performers. The concert will be premiered on our youtube channel on July 31, at 7pm Toronto time. You may find our channel at the link below. Hope to see you there!
When: July 31, 7pm EDT
Click here for the premiere link!
Link for Green Room Sound Collective
July 4, 2022
Distant
Announcing the rescheduled world premiere of "Distant"! The piece was written in 2020 for mezzo-soprano and piano. There were quite a few hurdles on the way, but I've finally found the chance to record and present this piece to you. I will definitely be watching the livestream with some friends, so feel free to drop a comment!
None of this would be possible without the help of Alex Hetherington, Geoffrey Conquer, and Fish Yu. They are wonderful musicians, and it was such a pleasure to collaborate with them on this project.
When: June 18, 8pm EDT
Click here for the premiere link!
June 4, 2022
Disobedience
New production by UofT Opera, Opera Student Composer Collective
When: April 8, 2022 at 5:30pm EDT
Livestream
Stay tuned for more details!
March 11, 2022
*UPDATE*: due to multiple covid exposures, the world premiere of Disobedience will be postponed to January 22, 2023 at 2:30pm, in MacMillan Theatre, University of Toronto.
Wind Ensemble Year End Concert
Ecstatic to be performing Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Winds with the UofT Wind Ensemble! This is such a talented band of musicians, and I had so much fun working with their conductor, Prof. Gillian McKay. Details are as follows:
When: April 2, 2022 at 7:30pm EDT
Click here for the livestream!
March 11, 2022
Beyond the Lines: Fourth Year Recital
Sending you a warm invitation to my fourth year piano recital held at the University of Toronto! This is the most challenging program I have done so far, which includes music from Bach to Schoenberg and to my own, so I'm very excited to share it with you. Details are as follows:
When: March 27, 2022 at 7:30pm EDT
Where: Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, 80 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M5S 2C5
*UPDATE*: UofT is now welcoming a live audience! UofT students and staff may enter freely. However, there is still a limit to external visitors. Please contact me if you are not part of UofT but would like to attend this recital in person. There will still be a livestream.
Click here for the livestream!
Program:
French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV 813 (J.S. Bach)
Sonata No.28 in A major, Op.101 (L. van Beethoven)
Liebesträume, S.541 (F. Liszt)
Étude No. 1, “Désordre” (1985) (G. Ligeti)
Fünf Klavierstücke, Op.23 (A. Schoenberg)
Edge (2022) (Vivian Kwok)
March 11, 2022
Canadian Art Song Showcase
Presenting my art song, "Venus," with Abigail Sinclair at the Canadian Art Song Showcase, hosted by the Student National Association of Teachers of Singing (SNATS)! This concert is part of the UofT New Music Festival (UTNMF) 2022 concert series. Details are as follows:
When: March 22, 2022 at 12pm EDT
Click here for the livestream!
March 11, 2022
"Immersed" by Bedford Trio
I got to hear the Bedford Trio in concert for the first time back in 2018, and they have been one of my biggest inspirations ever since. To work with them and have one of my own pieces performed by them is incredible - I still have a hard time believing it. And so I'm very delighted to share with you that my piano trio "Caught in the System" will be featured in the Bedford Trio's concert, "Immersed"! The program presents 6 pieces by Canadian composers and 5 visual artists. Together with interviews and behind the scenes, the concert will be included in a documentary that showcases what it means to create, innovate, and collaborate in a pandemic. Hope to see you at the concert!
When: March 19, 2022 at 5pm // March 19, 2022 at 8pm SOLD OUT
Where: Ernest Balmer Studio, 315-9 Trinity Street, The Distillery Historic District, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
Click here for tickets at 5pm and here for tickets at 8pm! Current students may enter the promo code "STUDENT" for a special offer.
Find out more about the Bedford Trio at their website.
March 11, 2022
Student Composers Concert
Presenting a new piece by Stephen Morris at the last UofT Student Composers Concert of the year! The same concert will also feature the premiere of my song, "Distant," performed by the wonderful Alex Hetherington and Geoffrey Conquer. Details are as follows:
When: March 15, 2022 at 7pm EDT
Click here for the livestream!
March 11, 2022
*UPDATE*: due to a covid exposure, the world premiere of "Distant" will be postponed to April in a virtual event for the performers' health and safety. Details TBA.
sop | EP
I am so excited to have written music for my good friend Yi Nuo's new poetry book, sop! Yi Nuo has written beautifully for some of my previous projects, and I am so glad to collaborate with her once again. These tracks are meant to set the tone for each section of her book and bring readers into the poetic world of sop. I am also delighted to feature Nicholas Yee on cello! Nick has brought so much nuance to the music, and I am so grateful for all his help in this project. It is unbelievable that everything on this album was done virtually. Hope you'd enjoy this little album! Check out more info on Yi Nuo's book and Nick's music below.
Order the sop paperback through Amazon!
The EP is now out everywhere including Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, and more.
Find free downloads and arrangements of the score through here!
Yi Nuo Cheng - Website, Instagram
Nicholas Yee - Website, Spotify, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook
October 12, 2021
Venus | Banff Centre EvoFest Premiere
"Summer's ending, maybe warmth was never hers// nectar, blood, specter, bloom"
I am so lucky to have Abigail Sinclair and Ria Kim premiering my song at the Banff Centre Evolution: Classical Summer Festival 2021. They were phenomenal and perfectly captured the attitude presented in a new poem by my good friend Yi Nuo Cheng.
Yi Nuo has such a knack for words, it always leaves me in awe how she captured all these beautiful moments in her writing. Check out our full song on Youtube!
Just an extra thought - we didn't create this song with the Afghan situation in mind, but I thought the line above echoes what's happening right now, and my heart goes out to all the women who still can't live for themselves. This line keeps me awake at night.
August 21, 2021
The Gallery | Green Room Music
The virtual soundscape "The Gallery" has been released! This has been an ongoing project born out of the 2020 COVID isolation period, and after a year of recording and compiling ideas, the full version of this online showcase is finally open for public viewing. It is a virtual space lined with hundreds of musical cells, sculpting a unique experience for each individual, as they interact with the environment in whichever way they'd like.
I have been honored to be a part of this project, along with over 30 artists from various fields, including composition, performance, visual design, architectural design, and sound engineering. It has been a new and intriguing experience for me to create and record music for this project, so I hope that you may have a chance to explore this virtual space!
To access the program links and view the full credit list, please visit: https://greenroommusictoronto.com/thegallery
July 14, 2021
Beyond the Lines: Third Year Recital
Hello! I am pleased to invite you to my third year piano recital held at the University of Toronto! The program consists of all the pieces I've been working on this year, and I am very excited to share them with you. I am also delighted to be presenting a new piece written by Emily Green, which we have refined together as a composer and performer. Due to the pandemic situation, my recital may only be delivered via livestream, but that also means you can view it from anywhere! Details are as follows:
When: April 17, 2021 at 7:30pm EDT
Livestream link: This link directs you to one of the official UT Faculty of Music's YouTube channels, which will be livestreaming my recital. The direct link to my recital can only be generated shortly before the livestream begins, so it is unavailable at this time.
Program:
Prelude and Fugue No.17 in A flat major, BWV 886 (J.S. Bach)
Sonata in F minor, D.625 (F. Schubert)
Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor, Op.31 (F. Chopin)
Sunken Ships (2021) (Emily Green)
Prelude in A minor, Op.32 No.8 (S. Rachmaninoff)
In case you can't make it to the livestream, the recital will be on the same YouTube channel for the next 10 days, and afterwards I will upload it on my own channel as well.
Hope to see you there!!
March 17, 2021
*UPDATE*: the full recital recording is now uploaded on Youtube! You can find it here.
University of Toronto Winds Concerto Competition
Ecstatic and honored to share that I got selected as one of the winners for the UT Winds Concerto Competition!! Also congrats to Kristian Vogel (tenor saxophone), as well as Samuel Chan (alto saxophone), who got an honorable mention!
Huge thanks to Jamie Parker for coaching me along the way and lending me that humongous score that barely fits in my bag, and of course to the incredible Geoffrey Conquer, who accompanied me and made this all possible!! This piece is a real BOP and I had great fun playing it.
Winning this competition means that I'll have a chance to perform this piece as a soloist with the UT Wind Ensemble in the 2021-22 concert season, so keep an eye out for further updates!
March 15, 2021
LOVKN - New Life | cover | Vivian Kwok
Ephesians 4:22-24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Happy New Year!!
This song is such an earworm. Everything was recorded back in July when I wanted to try something else than just practicing all day. So here is "New Life" by LOVKN.
January 1, 2021
breathe | for SATB choir
Huge thank you to Concreamus Chamber Choir for performing my work at the University of Toronto!
March 24, 2020
New composition premiered by the ESO!
Click on the link to see my interview with Global News!
Edmonton Journal article click here.
August 12, 2018