Bamboo Grove Patrick Yim

• Zhou Long (b. 1953): Bamboo Grove for Unaccompanied Violin:
• 1 Long: Bamboo Grove for Unaccompanied Violin 11:09
• Chen Yi (b. 1953): Xian Shi for Viola, Percussion, and Piano:
• 2 Yi: Xian Shi for Viola, Percussion, and Piano 15:15
• Zhou Long: Tales from the Nine Bells for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Piano:
• 3 Long: Tales from the Nine Bells for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Piano 13:50
• Chen Yi: Suite for Viola and Chamber Winds:
• 4 Yi: Suite for Viola and Chamber Winds: I. Lusheng Ensemble 04:38
• 5 Yi: Suite for Viola and Chamber Winds: II. Echoes of the Set Bells 03:53
• 6 Yi: Suite for Viola and Chamber Winds: III. Romance of Hsiao and Ch'in 03:40
• 7 Yi: Suite for Viola and Chamber Winds: IV. Flower Drums in Dance 06:32
• Total Runtime 58:57

Info for Bamboo Grove

Violinist Patrick Yim presents an album of world-premiere recordings, Bamboo Grove, featuring the music of Chen Yi and Zhou Long – two of the most distinguished voices bridging Chinese and Western musical traditions. Rooted in a profound artistic lineage and shaped by lived history, this recording captures a rare moment of creative intimacy: works brought to life during a residency at the University of Notre Dame in April 2024, enriched by close collaboration with the composers themselves. Their stories – spanning the Cultural Revolution, formative studies in Beijing, and artistic refinement in New York – resonate through music that is at once deeply personal and culturally expansive. Drawing on an encyclopaedic knowledge of Chinese musical heritage alongside a command of Western compositional technique, Chen and Zhou reimagine the expressive potential of string instruments with striking originality.

Across the programme, the violin and viola are transformed into evocative vessels of ancient sonorities: echoes of the guqin, erhu, pipa, and xiao emerge through intricate textures, extended techniques, and a vivid palette of colour. Zhou Long’s Bamboo Grove unfolds as a poetic meditation on the nonconformity and spontaneity of the Seven Sages, while Chen Yi’s works-from the pioneering Xian Shi to the richly imaginative Suite for Viola and Chamber Winds-blend folk traditions with bold experimentation. Tales from the Nine Bells conjures an otherworldly soundscape inspired by myth and poetry, its shimmering textures and percussive energy revealing a unique sonic vision. Throughout, narrative depth and timbral invention intertwine, creating a sound world that feels both ancient and immediate. With exceptional sensitivity and virtuosity, Patrick Yim brings this music to life, offering a compelling portrait of cultural confluence and artistic imagination.

Patrick Yim, viola, solo viola
Paul Vaillancourt, percussion (track 2)
Shuai Wang, piano (track 2, 3)
Kirsten Docter, viola (track 3)
John Diodati, clarinet (track 3)
Catherine Ramirez, flute (tracks 4-7)
Jennet Ingle, oboe (tracks 4-7)
John Diodati, clarinet (tracks 4-7)
Anna Marsh, bassoon (tracks 4-7)
Matthew Oliphant, horn (tracks 4-7)
Charles Roberts, trumpet (tracks 4-7)
Riley Leitch, trombone (tracks 4-7)
Paul Vaillancourt, percussion (tracks 4-7)
Paul Hostetter, conductor (tracks 4-7)

Patrick Yim
Praised for his “deeply expressive, finely nuanced play- ing” (The Strad Magazine), “dazzling technique and passionate interpretations” (The Whole Note), and “superb” performances (Fanfare Magazine), Honolulu-born violinist Patrick Yim made his solo debut with the Honolulu Symphony, and has performed chamber music with Juilliard, Emerson, St. Lawrence, Pacifica, and Ying Quartet members, and musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Cleveland Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic. He performed with the Cleveland Orchestra on tour in the USA and Europe, and at Carnegie Hall with the Emerson Quartet violinists. His recordings, including numerous world premieres, have been published by Albany, Naxos, Navona, Ravello, and Acis. A strong advocate of contemporary compositions, Yim has commissioned more than 50 works to date, including a substantial body of work for violin with non-Western instruments. In 2024, Yim performed the world premiere of Bamboo Grove, a new unaccompanied violin work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long commissioned for him by the University of Notre Dame, at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. New Waves, which includes premiere recordings of works by Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Qu Xiao-song, was published by Albany Records on December 23, 2023. He earned his BM and MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music and his DMA from Stony Brook University. His principal teachers were Philip Setzer, William Preucil, David Updegraff, Jennifer Frautschi, and Hagai Shaham. He previously taught at CIM, Hong Kong Baptist University, Interlochen, and Stony Brook. Yim is Assistant Professor of Violin in the Department of Music, Faculty Fellow at the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, and Faculty Fellow at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Booklet for Bamboo Grove