BIO
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BIO ↘
Composer and sound artist Alain Chiu's body-of-works sits firmly at the juncture of contemporary music, sound art, and multimedia art. It ranges from traditional music, sound installations, experimental musical theatre, to virtual reality videos and video installations. Chiu's works are an assemblage of influences and practices giving them a unique sensitivity and inquisitiveness. As an artist, Chiu aims to curate and assemble sonic, musical, and physical materials to create tools revealing the deeper substrate of contemporary culture and the human condition.
Alain Chiu has received commissions from Arts Promotion Office, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, Kung Music Workshop, Sotheby's Hong Kong, and by numbers of musicians and groups, including the Afiara Quartet, the Ives Quartet, and Louis Siu among others. Chiu's music was performed at the 40th to the 44th Hong Kong Arts Festival, WKCDA Freespace Micro 2013, 2012 Hong Kong Week at Taipei, Jumping Frames Italy Tour, Cannes Film Festival 2013 & 2014, and Guggenheim UBS No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia.
Chiu is the founder of the Trilateral Lab→ an experimental performance collective. The Lab is dedicated to challenging the existing form and structure of performing arts. It also aims at incorporating new technologies as a way to stimulate and cultivate new ideas. Its inaugural performance, Never Seen, was premiered in 2017 at the Adelaide Fringe Festival with rave reviews. The Lab’s other engagements include A Room Different From The One You’re In Now (2022), a multimedia exhibition in Berlin; Collecting Sounds (2019), a public sound installation; the Spacetime Capsule of Ma Wan Village (2019), an experiential exhibition, and According to the Order of Time (2019) a 180-degree video installation.
Chiu received his Bachelor of Music degree in composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with the Samuel Clarke Scholarship, where he studies composition with Conrad Susa, David Garner, and electronic music with Alden Jenks. He attended the European American Musical Alliance in Paris with scholarship, and has participated in a masterclass by Jo Kondo. Alain Chiu is the recipient of the Schulich Scholarship.
hiu's latest creations include: sound installation for objects, Bagatelle no. 1 (2022), multimedia exhibition and performances a n t i p l a y g r o u n d (2021). multimedia exhibition in a mobile app, Dream Sequence (2020-21); auditory performance Truth Within Earshot? (2021). He was the teaching artist of Contemporary Musicking and is the author of Sound Brood: an interdisciplinary Approach in Sound and Music.
(Jul 2023)
NEW POSTS
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NEW POSTS ↓
Selected Solo Exhibitions & Performances
2023
Audiovisual Installation, In A Matter Of Days, 480dim0, Hong Kong
2022
Co-curation, A Room Different From the One You’re in Now, Prenzlauer Studio, Berlin, Germany.
Sound Installation, Phantom Melodies , Museum of Art, Hong Kong.
Assemblage Installation, Process of Emotions, Sohoyard, Hong Kong.
Sound Installation, A Bagatelle of Objects I, Central Market, Hong Kong.
2021
Multimedia, a n t i p l a y g r o u n d, multimedia exhibition
Online Exhibition/ Game, i always hated the moisture, it makes me feel tired, mobile app and website
Video, Simulacra, Video
Multimedia, Anatomy of a Dream, social media/ internet persona
Auditory Performance, Truth Within Earshot?, HKICC Multimedia Theatre, Hong Kong
2020
Solo Exhibition, Assemblages, Visual Art Centre, Hong Kong
2019
Multimedia Exhibition, Spacetime Capsule of Ma Wan Village, Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Hong Kong
Sound installation, Collecting Sounds, Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Hong Kong
Solo Exhibition, According to the Order of Time, Oncurating Space, Zurich, Switzerland (curated by Nicolas Buchi, in collaboration with Trilateral Lab)
Pre-2017
2017 Sonic Performance, Never Seen, Mainstage, Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide, SA, Australia (In collaboration with Trilateral Lab)
2016 Music/ Theatre, Still Life, McAulay Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (In collaboration with Trilateral Lab)
2015 Opera, Fish in the Hand, Theatre, City Hall, Hong Kong
2013 Music/ Theatre, Walking on Lines, Sense99, Hong Kong (In collaboration with Trilateral Lab)
2014 Music Composition, for Shadows, Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2009 Composition Recital, BMus Thesis Recital, Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA
CV
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CV ←
Selected Group Exhibitions, Performances & Music
2021 Table(s) of Contents, Process of Emotions
2020 Music for Headphones, Fictitious Entry, electronics, Out Of Our Heads (OOOH!), Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Contemporary Musicking Hong Kong)
2019 Music Composition, soundbite, percussion ensemble, San Francisco International Arts Festival, Cowell Theatre, San Francisco, CA, USA (Commissioned by Toolbox Percussions)
2018 Music Composition, Difference and Repetition, chamber ensemble, singer & electronics, Artistree, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong Sinfonietta)
2017 VR Video Installation, Transience, Connecting Spaces, Hong Kong (Co-curated by Melissa Cate Christ and Scott Dietrich, in collaboration with Trilateral Lab)
2017 Music for Dance, Thea, electronics, 35-minutes, 44th Hong Kong Arts Festival, Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Festival)
2014 Music Composition, Long Way Home, music for chamber ensemble, 30-minutes, Guggenheim UBS No Country, Hong Kong Asia Society, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong New Music Ensemble)
2014 Music Composition, Freedom Bird, music for chamber ensemble and percussions, 20-minutes, Hear the Now, NOW! 2014 Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong New Music Ensemble)
2014 Music for Dance, Even/Odd, electronics, 30-minutes, 42nd Hong Kong Arts Festival, Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong (commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Festival)
2013 Music Performance, Decades, music for Piano, 10-minutes, Freespace 2013, West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong (Commissioned by West Kowloon Cultural District)
2013 Music Composition, Spasms, 3 musicians, 35-minutes, 41st Hong Kong Arts Festival, Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Festival)
2012 Music Composition, Resonantia I, percussion ensemble, 15-minutes, 40th Hong Kong Arts Festival, Emerging Artist Concert, Amphitheatre, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Festival)
2012 Music for Dance, Silence Box, electronics, 25-minutes, 40th Hong Kong Arts Festival, Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong (Commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Festival)
2010 Music Composition, As the Flâneur Marches to Oblivion…, percussions and violin, City Hall, Hong Kong
Radio/ TV
創文館, Interview, Viutv, Hong Kong. September, 2022.
Thomas Sung, Interview, SBS Cantonese Radio, Australia. February 26, 2017.
Jessica Yeung, Interview, RTHK 2 Radio, Hong Kong. October 03, 2015.
文化廣場, Interview, TVB Jade, Hong Kong. September 2015.
Bibliography & Interviews
“從詩舞畫樂看書法藝術 於字裏行間意會書家情感,” MP Weekly, August 26, 2022.
李海燕, “難道就是一張門票的分別？ — 《待渡》和《耳蝸裡有隻象》”,the Stand News, April 21, 2021.
姚嘉敏, “訪《耳蝸裡有隻象》導聽演出Alain 真象、假象，那頭象是真實嗎？,” 虛詞, April 4, 2021.
水月一, "耳蝸有隻象 打破聆聽感知框架,” Sing Tao ArtCan, March 26, 2021.
周回, “事實、真相與感知 — 《耳蝸裡有隻象》,” the Stand News, March 18, 2021.
戎曼怡, “一次聽覺藝術的跨學科學習,” RTHK 集師廣益, January 22, 2019.
Tom Brown, “Music and Dance: Independence, Interdependence, and Dependence," Dance Journal, June 30, 2017.
Stephen Whittington, “Adelaide Fringe 2017 review: Never Seen,” the Advertiser, February 16, 2017.
Matt Innesm “Never Seen: A Must-see At Adelaide Fringe,” Scenestr, February 10, 2017.
Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva, “Music and Spoken Word,” Frieze, June 02 2016.
小Jade, “《掌心的魚》振作吧！,” the Stand News, October 13 2015.
卡夫卡, “當代歌劇 說人性陰暗,” Hong Kong Economic Journal, October 05, 2015.
“Louis Siu: Recital,” the Fleeting Spectator, March 02, 2012.
Publications
2019 Article, “Audible Memories,” Ming’s, September 2019. 264.
2018 Book, “Sound Brood: an Interdisciplinary Approach in Sound and Music”
Awards, Scholarships, Artist Residencies
2019 Residency, Prenzlauer Studio / Kunst-Kollektiv, Berlin, Germany
2017 Residency, Arts Promotion Office, Oi!, Hong Kong
2016 Workshop/ Showcase, New Works Forum: Choreographer & Composer Lab, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Hong Kong
2009 Scholarship, Schulich Scholarship, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
2009 Award, Finalist, International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition
2009 Call for Score, Orchestra of Our Time, New York, NY, USA
2009 Workshop, Contemporary String Quartet Workshop, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, USA
2008 Scholarship, Academic Scholarship, European American Musical Alliance, Paris, France
2005 Scholarship, Samuel Clarke Scholarship, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, USA
Commissions:
Arts Promotion Office
Toolbox Percussions
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Hong Kong Arts Festival Society
Kung Music Workshop
Sotheby’s
Hong Kong New Music Ensemble
Teaching and Job Experience
Artistic Director, Trilateral Lab, 2019-
Visiting Lecturer, Sound Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2020-
Author/ Curriculum Design/ Teaching Artist, Soundbrood Sound Art Cultivation for Youth, Contemporary Musiking Hong Kong, 2017-18
Lecturer, Introduction to Sound Art, Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School, Hong Kong, 2018
Lecturer/ Workshop, Introduction to Arduino and Sound Art, Hong Kong Baptist University Affiliated School Wong Kam Fai Secondary School, Hong Kong, 2018
Senior Instructor of Composition, Soundgoods Arts, Hong Kong, 2017
Music Coordinator, 43rd Hong Kong Arts Festival Contemporary Dance Series, Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, Hong Kong, 2015