Kay Rhie: Cereus Kay Rhie, Aperture Duo, Leela Subramaniam and Winsor Music

• Kay Rhie: Cereus:
• 1 Rhie: Cereus 13:15
• I Hear the Sound of Trees:
• 2 Rhie: I Hear the Sound of Trees: No. 1, After the Dazzle of the Day 03:38
• 3 Rhie: I Hear the Sound of Trees: No. 2, Reflective 00:43
• 4 Rhie: I Hear the Sound of Trees: No. 3, Cascadilla Falls 03:05
• 5 Rhie: I Hear the Sound of Trees: No. 4, Perfections 01:45
• 6 Rhie: I Hear the Sound of Trees: No. 5, Love Song 03:40
• ...in the dreams of another...:
• 7 Rhie: ...in the dreams of another...: I. After You 02:36
• 8 Rhie: ...in the dreams of another...: II. Circular 02:18
• 9 Rhie: ...in the dreams of another...: III. ...in the dreams of another... 02:49
• 10 Rhie: ...in the dreams of another...: IV. Game 01:55
• 11 Rhie: ...in the dreams of another...: V. If I Don't See You, I Feel You 01:39
• Suite from Quake:
• 12 Rhie: Suite from Quake: I. Introduction, and Otis Builds a World 04:08
• 13 Rhie: Suite from Quake: II. I Soon Learned Men’s False Ways 03:02
• 14 Rhie: Suite from Quake: III. You’re Caught in Angeleno Fantasy 02:47
• 15 Rhie: Suite from Quake: IV. The City Sings in Silhouette 04:02
• Total Runtime 51:22

Info for Kay Rhie: Cereus

Composer Kay Rhie releases Cereus, a portrait album of chamber works, two including voice, featuring soprano Leela Subramaniam, Winsor Music and the Aperture Duo. Rhie's music draws on her experience as a South Korean born artist living in Los Angeles, responding to the lived environment in outward ways through text setting and thematic context, as well as inward impacts on her compositional process.

Kay Rhie’s compositions pay special attention to musical behaviors, curating the interaction between instruments, phrase length, motivic contour, and other salient characteristics to reinforce larger aesthetic goals in her music. In this collection of chamber music with and without voice, Rhie’s decisions surrounding process and how the musical material develops are often embodiments of something essential to the expression of the piece itself. As a listener, one senses this cohesion in her music between micro detail and macro intention is something one senses as a listener even before investigating the nature of their link. This integration of local and large scale elements never obscures Rhie’s engaging material on a moment to moment level, and she cultivates this fine balance between compositional design and instinct expertly throughout the works on this recording.

Cereus (Night Blooms), performed by the Winsor Trio, is dedicated to her late father, In-young Rhie, who was an active writer in his native South Korea in the 60s through 80s before immigrating to the United States. In the last months of his life, Kay Rhie ruminated about how this creative part of her father’s life had been dormant since the family’s move, and fashioned the musical content of the piece around the idea of a flower that blossoms only at night, despite resistance. Disjunct, imitative gestures in the instruments of the trio that are separated by silence at the opening of the piece gradually become more extended, as arrivals in one line connect with sustained pitches in another, skittering lines coalesce and diverge, and fragments flower into fully formed phrases. The last several minutes of the piece diffuse its charged energy into a series of contemplative, peaceful exhalations.

The five part song cycle I Hear the Sound of Trees for voice, alto saxophone, and piano, sets a collection of poems by by Walt Whitman and A.R. Ammons that celebrate nature’s power to reconnect us with our inner quietude. The first three songs of the set travel through the smooth urbanity of “After the dazzle of the day” (Whitman), the wry humor of “Reflective” (Ammons), and the cascading, word-painted narrative of “Cascadilla Falls” (Ammons). In “Perfections" (Whitman), Leela Subramaniam's crystalline soprano covers wide leaps over the irregular percolation of oscillating figures in keyboard and saxophone. “Love Song” (Ammons) is the most introspective song in the set, capturing the beguiling mystery of nature’s enveloping embrace with ethereal vocal lines over gentle accompaniment.

…in the dreams of another… for violin and viola, performed by the Aperture Duo, grew from Rhie’s observations about interactions over Zoom. Inadvertent interruptions, clumsy apologies, and quick stops and starts abound on online communication platforms, especially early in the pandemic when many people were acclimating themselves to that format for the first time. The piece’s five movements each examine a different kind of dialogue between the two instruments: the motivic imitation of “After You,” the rounded contours in “Circular,” the jump-cut contrasts of dynamic, expression, and timbre of “Game,” and the truncated gestures of “If I don’t see you, I feel you.” The title movement is the emotional center of the work, scored for viola alone playing a mournful melody, revealing the alienation that lies beneath our awkward efforts at connection.

The final piece on the recording involves its largest instrumentation; scored for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, the four movement Suite from Quake is compiled from material from Rhie’s operatic homage to her adopted home city of Los Angeles, Quake. Rhie magnifies the sextet to occupy an orchestral sonic footprint, drawing out vibrant colors and creating layers of activity that suggest section playing even though the performers are playing one to a part. It is also a treat to hear Rhie’s musical voice in a more lush, dramatic frame as she leans into supporting the theatrical narrative, sometimes highlighting the stage action (conjured in the listener’s imagination on this recording) with emphasized musical events in the voice and ensemble. (Dan Lippel)

Leela Subramaniam, soprano (I Hear the Sound of Trees)
Rachel Wolz, alto saxophone
Andreas Foivos Apostolou, piano

Leela Subramaniam, soprano (Suite from Quake)
Jennifer Jo, flute
Sierra Allen, clarinet
Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, violin
Niall Taro Ferguson, cello
Brandon Zhou, piano
Chris Kim, conductor

Kay Rhie
is a composer of contemporary classical music who often explores the issues of belonging and the science of acoustics. Currently Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory at UCLA, she finds her experience of living in Los Angeles and previously in Ithaca, New York, as well as growing up in South Korea to be continuously influencing her voice as a composer. Her musical studies began in South Korea on the piano from the age of seven, and continued at the University of California at Los Angeles and Cornell University. Her composition teachers include Steven Stucky, Roberto Sierra, Paul Chihara, Ian Krouse, David Lefkowitz, John Harbison, Samuel Adler, Stephen Hartke, and Donald Crockett. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition from Cornell University in 2009.

Rhie was a recipient of the Charles Ives Fellowship given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2008, which said her music has “vehemence and reticence,” where “intimacy and plainness co-exist.” She was awarded the Grand Prize for Student Compositions at the Ojai Music Festival in 2001. Residences have included the Aspen Music Festival (2003), the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East (2004), and Banff Centre for the Arts (2005). At the Tanglewood Music Center, she was the Otto Eckstein Composition Fellow and the winner of the Geffen-Solomon New Music Commission in 2007. From 2008-2009, she was a Rieman and Baketel Music Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University. The recently completed orchestral work, H’on, commissioned for the Los Angeles Philharmonic premiered in June 2025.

Her music has been performed at the London Festival of American Music, Banff Centre for the Arts, the Hear Now Festival, Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music, Tanglewood Music Center, Tongyeong International Music Festival, the Ars Nova Series in Korea, Composers Conference at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, and Berkeley Symphony Chamber Series. Performers include the BBC Singers, Ensemble TM+ (Paris), Ensemble X, In Mulieribus, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, TIMF ensemble, Winsor Music, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Brightwork Newmusic Ensemble, Aperture Duo, New Thread Saxophone Quartet, and Opera UCLA.

Leela Subramaniam
a “gleaming soprano” according to Opera News, has performed with major opera houses like the Metropolitan Opera and LA Opera. Passionate about new music, she has been featured in five world premieres, notably by women of color. She’s a first-prize winner of the Joan Taub Ades Competition and a finalist in several prestigious competitions. Her recent roles include Annu in Thumbprint and Turan in Threshold of Brightness. A Los Angeles native, Leela holds degrees from UCLA and Manhattan School of Music, and continues to perform and teach in LA.

Rachel Wolz, a Los Angeles-based musician and educator, has graced stages with groups like the UCLA Philharmonia and The Colburn Orchestra. As the alto saxophonist for the Gold Line Quartet, she’s committed to community engagement in LA. Her accolades include third prize at the 2023 International Artists Competition and the Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship at UCLA. Rachel has also toured with the Zoto Saxophone Quartet, offering educational clinics and masterclasses across Arizona.

Andreas Foivos Apostolou
a versatile musician from Thessaloniki, Greece, has made significant contributions in music composition, production, and performance. After mastering violin and voice, he expanded his skills to include drums and guitar during high school. Despite pursuing Chemical Engineering, his passion led him to Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with top honors. Now based in Los Angeles, Apostolos is known for his work in film and TV, including Palm Royale and Star Trek: Lower Decks, alongside producing and arranging for various artists. His background blends classical and contemporary music.

Jennifer Jo
an award-winning flutist, is based in Los Angeles and renowned for her work on the intersection of traditional East Asian flutes and contemporary Western music. She has won first prizes in numerous competitions and holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon and UCLA. Her students excel in national and international competitions and prestigious orchestras. Jennifer is committed to education, serving on faculty at California Summer School for the Arts, and her teaching integrates various musical styles, enhancing student growth both musically and personally.

Sierra Allen
a Los Angeles-based clarinetist and educator, has contributed to films like Encanto and The Call of the Wild as principal clarinet. She’s performed with orchestras including the LA Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony. Sierra holds a BM from Biola University, MM from CSU Fullerton, and a DMA from UCLA, where her dissertation focused on clarinet doubling. She teaches at several universities and privately, emphasizing the clarinet as both a physical and mental practice, with a studio spanning multiple states. Her mentors include Ray Guyll, Joshua Ranz, and Boris Allakhverdyan.

Xenia Deviatkina-Loh
an acclaimed violinist, has graced stages worldwide, from Sydney Opera House to Wigmore Hall. She performs with LA ensembles like Dilijan and MEC, and is part of ECHOI. A winner of the 2009 Gisborne Competition, she’s also a radio regular. Her teaching spans across continents, currently at MSMU and UCLA. She holds degrees from Sydney Conservatorium, Royal Academy of Music, and UCLA, with her debut album Soliloquy showcasing contemporary works. She’s also active in music education leadership.

Niall Tarō Ferguson
a Los Angeles native, is a versatile cellist, composer, and orchestrator. He’s freelanced in both concert and commercial music, working with cellists like Antonio Lysy and Lynn Harrell. Niall has been featured on “The Voice” and performed at the 2019 Grammy Awards with Shawn Mendes and Miley Cyrus. He studied composition at UCLA, earning his bachelor’s in 2017 under mentors like Ian Krouse and Bruce Broughton.

Brandon Zhou
an LA-based pianist and composer, excels in both classical and contemporary music. He has collaborated with notable artists like Hilá Plitmann and organizations including American Contemporary Ballet. His piano work appears in Kerry Candaele’s documentary Love and Justice. Winning the 2020 Atwater Kent Concerto Competition, he performed Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto with the UCLA Philharmonia. His compositions and arrangements, like the acclaimed ‘Egyptian’ Concerto, have been featured in various U.S. venues. Brandon holds degrees from UCLA, studying under Inna Faliks and Richard Danielpour, and currently works as a coach, organist, and pianist in multiple institutions.

Booklet for Kay Rhie: Cereus