Projects

From A Dream (2023) demo

music composed by Dorothy Chang and performed by the Orchid Ensemble

Crossbridge Strings (2022) at Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Festival

Li Tung improvised with Crossbridge Strings and dancers Billy Chang and Tara C. Pandeya at the 2022 Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Festival. Crossbridge Strings brings together Vancouver’s diverse bowed string players from east and west and uses improvisation as the medium for musical exchange. Established in 2021, Crossbridge Strings is a collective of all-star improvising musicians from Indonesian, Taiwanese, Iranian, avant-garde, jazz, and western contemporary music backgrounds. The rebab, erhu, kamanche, violin, viola, cello, and bass blend beautifully together, and the sounds from various genres naturally emerge and evolve. At the same time, distinct characters of each instrument/player is brought to the foreground through spontaneous orchestration and dynamic shifts. The unique vocal styles of multi-instrumentalist Sutrisno Hartana and Lan Tung add rich colours and nuances in the mix, while bass and drum provide rhythmic foundation to support the strings.

Fallen City (2022)

Fallen City is an interdisciplinary project that fuses the arts and science to raise awareness of earthquake risks and to honour the lives lost to earthquakes around the world. Co-presented by Proliferasian, C-Works, and Sound of Dragon Society, Fallen City offers a unique interactive theatrical experience.

Fallen City is the brainchild of 3 siblings – Lan Tung (producer/musician/ composer), Dr. Dorian Tung (researcher/earthquake engineer), and Li Tung (visual artist/performer). Born in Taiwan, a country of frequent earthquakes, they now live in Vancouver, where there is increasing concern of a major earthquake (Read more about earthquake risks in BC). They are joined by collaborators from diverse fields: media artist company Chimerik 似不像, led by Shang-Han Chien and Sammy Chien, another set of siblings from Taiwan; software designer Arne Eigenfeldt; and sound design artist Jeremy O’Neill. 

Crossing Mountains & Seas (2019)

Crossing Mountains & Seas is an interdisciplinary production that fuses contemporary and aerial dance, original music with Chinese traditions, and interactive multimedia projection. The performance is a journey through an imaged video game that crosses over modern day Canada and a magical world of prehistoric Asia as described in the ancient book Shan Hai Jing or the Classic of Mountains & Seas.

Crossing Mountains & Seas celebrates how the various creatures in Shan Hai Jing had lived in harmony with each other, which is a metaphor of an ideal multi-cultural society that we are seeking today. Within an imaged role-playing video game, players can interact and collaborate, no matter what their nationality, ethnicity, physical appearance, age, and gender would be. The production also showcases the creative aspects of gaming and the infinite possibilities of video technology.

This collaboration with Orchid Ensemble, Aeriosa Dance Society, and Chimerik was given two performances at the Vancouver Playhouse and Nanaimo’s Port Theatre in July 2019.

Mountain High River Flow – Chinese Landscape Painting & Music (2018)

Chinese classical music is often thematic, and the natural scenery is a major source of inspiration. Mountains, waterfalls, rivers, rain and even heavy storms can all be expressed with musical gestures. The natural scenery is the most important subject in Chinese classical brush painting. There are specific techniques used to paint the mountains, trees, flowers, and rivers with ink and rice paper. The commonality between Chinese painting and music is the use of space, the sense of breath. Also, both art forms are based on a linear approach: traditionally, Chinese music is developed melodically/horizontally, rather than western music’s chordal/vertical approach. Chinese classical painting takes viewers to travel across the scroll, where various elements reveal one after another. Featuring Taiwanese artist Li Tung and musician Dailin Hsieh, this event was presented by the SFU David Lam Centre.

Music of the Heavens (2017)

Chinese classical music is often thematic, and the natural scenery is a major source of inspiration. Mountains, waterfalls, rivers, rain and even heavy storms can all be expressed with musical gestures. The natural scenery is the most important subject in Chinese classical brush painting. There are specific techniques used to paint the mountains, trees, flowers, and rivers with ink and rice paper. The commonality between Chinese painting and music is the use of space, the sense of breath. Also, both art forms are based on a linear approach: traditionally, Chinese music is developed melodically/horizontally, rather than western music’s chordal/vertical approach. Chinese classical painting takes viewers to travel across the scroll, where various elements reveal one after another. Featuring Taiwanese artist Li Tung and musician Dailin Hsieh, this event was presented by the SFU David Lam Centre.

Light Shadow Fire (2016)

Light Shadow Fire is the spontaneous interaction between improvising musicians and visual artists from Taipei, London, and Vancouver. The programme explores improvisation in the context of new works by Lan Tung, Lisa Cay Miller, and Ron Samworth, as well as Li Tung’s live painting. This collaboration with NOW Society kicked off the 2016 Sound of Dragon Music Festival at the Western Front.

Sound of Dragon Music Festival (2016)

The meeting of two of the most creative pianists from the West and the East, this exciting concert will feature Paul Plimley (Vancouver) and Shih-Yang Lee (Taiwan), the two piano geniuses on ONE piano. Plimley will also switch to electric guitar and vibraphone at some point to give Lee some extra elbow space. Joining them are Taiwanese painter and writer Li Tung and Taiwanese Canadian erhu player Lan Tung. This is improvisation crossing the disciplines of music and visual arts. Li improvises with large brush and bold colour inks over large canvas surrounded by the musicians. It is a feast to the ears and eyes.

Make Music Festival (2011~)

Li Tung is a member of MAFIA Ensemble, the leading force in Taiwan’s experimental and improvisational arts scene and the producer of the annual Make Music Festival with performances in various cities in Taiwan. In addition, the group leads outreach workshops and gives lectures at numerous universities in Taiwan.

Moon World (2011)

Created in collaboration with composer/musician/improviser Lan Tung, Moon World is a graphical music composition for improvising musicians. This piece is inspired by the unique landscape of Moon World in Tainan, Taiwan. Resembling the surface of the moon, the chalk soil in this area has prevented the growth of grass and trees. The score combines three systems of musical notations: graphic notation, cipher notation (numbers), and conventional staff notation. Taiwanese painter/novelist Li Tung’s landscape painting of Moon World has inspired the piece and provided the basic structure. The painting itself has become a part of the score, and the score is at the same time the artwork. This piece has been given multiple performances, including Proliferasian’s concerts at the 2012 & 2015 Vancouver International Jazz Festival and 2018 Festival International De Musique Actuel in Victoriaville, QC.