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Dr Yue Song

Image for Dr Yue Song

Composer and Pianist

PhD in Music Composition 

 

 

Yue Song is a Chinese Composer and Pianist based in Dublin, Ireland, represented by the Contemporary Music Centre Ireland.

She holds a BA in Music Composition and Compositional Theory from the China Conservatory of Music, a Master’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music and a PhD in Music Composition from the TU Dublin Conservatoire, completed in 2023.

Her compositions span opera, orchestra, Chinese orchestra, chamber music, solo works, and electronic music. They have been performed internationally by groups including Crash Ensemble, ConTempo Quartet, Concorde Ensemble, Unconventional Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra Ireland at festivals across Austria, Canada, China, Estonia, France, Italy, Ireland, and the U.S.

Her works have been recorded and published by Crash Records, North Bull Records, and released on the DVD Music Dance Collection – Volume IV by the Central Conservatory of Music and Beijing Dance Academy, and her chamber opera Tonight, I Will Be Free was also released on DVD by the Central Conservatory of Music.

Her music has been broadcast on radio stations including RTÉ Lyric FM, WUSF Public Media - Modern Notebook, WNYC New Sounds, Amplify Podcast, Dublin Digital Radio and Athlone Community Radio.

 

Research Interests and Expertise:

Her PhD research, titled Composition through Characterisation: The Creative Process and Analysis of a Chamber Opera and Related Works, encompasses a 90-minute chamber opera, Tattoo, along with several related works. These include a collaborative project featuring five pieces for bass clarinet and electronics, a chamber quintet, four works based on a shared text (three written for string ensembles and one for a large chamber ensemble), a postcard piece for trio, and seven solo works for various instruments. The research is complemented by a thesis containing analytical commentaries on the compositional techniques and processes used in these works.

With a classical music background, she has developed a passion for diverse musical styles and art forms, particularly theatre and literature. This interest led to her fascination with opera, where she not only composes the music but also writes her own librettos.

Her creative process emphasises collaboration, integrating performers' unique qualities into her music. Her compositions explore the limitless possibilities of sound, focusing on the intricate interplay between different instruments in terms of tone, texture, timbre, and form. Often set against historical events, her operatic compositions reflect and engage with contemporary social realities, revealing her profound insight into the intersection of history and the present.

 

Professional Affiliations/Memberships:

Contemporary Music Centre - Associate Composer

Society for Musicology in Ireland - Ordinary Member

Irish Composers Collective - Ordinary Member  

 

Publications: 

Recordings:

2023 Stories in the Wind – album of works for bass clarinet and electronics, released on North Bull Records.

2023 Crash Works I – Senses IV, released by Crash Ensemble.

2016 Zhen Tou – for dancers and instrumental ensemble, released on DVD Music Dance Collection – Volume IV by Central Conservatory of Music and Beijing Dance Academy.

2015 Tonight, I Will Be Free – chamber opera released on DVD by Central Conservatory of Music.

 

Research Output:

2023 Thesis titled Composition Through Characterisation – The Creative Process and Analysis of a Chamber Opera and Related Works. PhD Thesis, 22nd of August 2023, TU Dublin.

2023 Paper titled Composition Through Characterisation - A Discussion of the Compositional Processes of the Five Individual Characters in the Chamber Opera Tattoo presented at TU Dublin Conservatoire Research Symposium, April 2023. 

2023 Paper titled Senses – The Delicate Qualities of Strings presented at TU Dublin Conservatoire Research Symposium, February 2023.

2023 Paper titled Stories In the Wind – A Discussion of Five New Collaborative Works for Bass Clarinet and Electronics presented at Joint SMI and ICTM-IE.  Postgraduate Conference at University College Dublin, January 2023.

2022 Paper and Recital titled Imagining and Shaping New Sounds with Sensors – Five Compositions for Bass Clarinet and Live Processing with Dr Marcella Barz presented at Artistic Research Days at TU Dublin Conservatoire, and Perform_Live Festival 2022 at National Concert Hall.

2017 Thesis titled Composing Techniques in John Adams Chamber Piece – Chamber Symphony. Master thesis, June 2017, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing.

 

Awards:
  • 2025: Selected composer for the Standard Issue Commission Award (London-based ensemble), composing a new duo work.
  • 2024: Selected for Composer Lab 2024, composed a new work Ting Yún (Listening to the Clouds) with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland at the National Concert Hall; live broadcast on RTÉ Lyric FM in Dublin (January 21, 2025).
  • 2023: Finalist in the Finding a Voice 2023 competition; composed When the Wind Passes By for solo viola.
  • 2022: Who Would Have the Courage to Carry Such a Heavy Past with Us? (from chamber opera Tattoo) awarded 2nd prize with the highest points in the Franz Schubert Conservatory World Championship Composition Competition (first prize vacant).
  • 2022: Illusions for solo organ awarded 3rd prize in the Franz Schubert Conservatory World Championship Composition Competition, Category 1.
  • 2022: Senses I for strings awarded 2nd prize in Academia Musica: European Composer Competition, Category 3 (first prize vacant).
  • 2022: Locust Swarms (from chamber opera Tattoo) for choir selected as a finalist in Academia Musica: European Composer Competition.
  • 2022: Selected composer for Crash Works I, commission for a full ensemble work, Senses IV, which was premiered at New Music Dublin 2023.
  • 2021: Selected as a composer for Crash Works I – Reactions Postcard Project, commissioned to write a trio, Dao Ying (Reflections), which was premiered at New Music Dublin 2022.
  • 2021: Who Would Have the Courage to Carry Such a Heavy Past with Us? was awarded 3rd prize in the Women Composers Competition and premiered at Femfestival 2021 by Unconventional Orchestra in Florence.
  • 2019 - 2022: Recipient of the China Scholarship Council Scholarship for Fine Arts.
  • 2018 - 2022: Awarded the TU Dublin Fiosraigh Fees and Materials Expenses award.
  • 2018: Winner of the Gertrude Morris Grant Perpetual Cup for a duo (piano and voice).
  • 2015: Winner of the 3rd China Chamber Opera Composition Promoting Project Prize for the chamber opera Tonight, I’ll Be Free, performed and recorded in Beijing and published on DVD.
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