Sigma Alpha Iota

26 Spring 2025 • sai-national.org CD Reviews ARCADE: WORKS BY FEMALE KOREAN COMPOSERS FOR CLARINET AND PIANO Performed by Wonkak Kim (clarinet) and Eunhye Grace Choi (piano) Recorded March 21–24, 2023 Released by MSR Recordings The world always needs more women composers, especially women of color. That is one of the many reasons I was excited to receive Arcade for review. Husband-and- wife duo Wonkak Kim and Eunhye Grace Choi bring to life a celebration of diversity and representation on this album, especially for Korean women in music. Each piece is truly inspired. Juri Seo's "Arcade" (from where the album title originates) captures through its juxtaposition of long held-out notes and fast-paced melody the rush of a 1980s arcade, the location for many of her core childhood memories, and could very well be the soundtrack for a classic platformer. No, your ears are not deceiving you: Eunseon Yu's "Red Light! Green Light!" does indeed pull from the classic Korean children's tune made popular by Netflix's Squid Game (who else had their heart destroyed by the marbles episode?). Jiyoun Chung's Ariaria is a heartbreakingly beautiful lamentation. Per the liner notes, "Ariaria is my musical cry to mourn the victims of racism, shout for equity, and commit to the restoration of justice." Kim and Choi, who are also Korean, are incredible musicians who not only do these pieces justice, but do so in ways that make it their own. In "Mischievous," as part of Joanne Nu's Open Letters, their teamwork in syncopation and melody transform them into dynamic Tom and Jerry-esque figures. Kim glides through the clarinet's registers with ease in Nicky Sohn's "Weather Change," and Choi conjures bittersweet nostalgia in "Parents' Love" by Sihyun Uhm. Overall, Arcade is a treat for the ears, and a testament to the importance of uplifting, underrepresented voices. These are truly some of the best selections for clarinet and piano I've encountered. Maybe I should consider picking up piano... The album is available for purchase on msrcd.com. Rebekah Strain was initiated into the Gamma Upsilon chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota at Morehead State University in 2013. She currently resides in Lexington, KY, where she teaches writing classes. She can be found on TikTok and Instagram as @rebekah_writes94 WAVELENGTH: NEW AMERICAN WORKS FOR CLARINET, CELLO AND PIANO KINAN AZMEH, PIERRE JALBERT, TODD COCHRAN, LIBBY LARSEN, DAVID LUDWIG, LOWELL LIEBERMAN Performed by Romie De Guise- Langlois (clarinet); Dmitri Atapine (cello); Hyeyeon Park (piano) Recorded May 23–25, 2022 Released by MSR Recordings W hat makes reviewing these albums so fulfilling and rewarding is watching the evolution of music in real time. I've had the opportunity to listen to different artists and composers from the Romantic era to today. The pieces in Wavelength—as well as the performances by De Guise-Langlois, Atropine, and Park—are not only of high quality, but serve as an interesting analysis of how personal experience and passion can inform the art of music. Take Kinah Azmeh's 2013 piece A Scattered Sketchbook, for instance. Spread out across six movements (referred to as "sketches"), each piece is individual and unique, but also cohesive. "Sketch No. 3" feels like descending down a mineshaft. The cello is the whining of the pulley, and the percussive clarinet is water droplets dripping from stalactites. By "Sketch No. 4" and through "Sketch No. 5," the roles have switched places. According to the liner notes, "Writing these miniatures was therapeutic for me as they were composed during a very difficult time back home in Syria." The talent of this trio is undeniable, both in teamwork and individual achievement. The piece Ultraviolet begins dark and mysterious, but soon gives way to rich piano. Crescending with cello and clarinet, the phenomenon creates a Grimm Brothers' golden hour. SAI Member Laureate Libby Larsen channels her inner cinephile in Trio Noir, a loving tribute to the iconic 1940s/50s mystery genre. If Atapine is the surly detective and Guise-Langlois is the seductive femme fatale, then Park is the aesthetic—the cues of light and shadow that make noir what it is. If there is one word to describe Wavelength, it is "human"—that is to say, it is an extension of how we perceive the world and our place in it. And that is a question many of us ask, but few even dare to answer. The album is available for purchase on msrcd.com.

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