Viet Cuong (b. 1990)
Called “alluring” and “wildly inventive” by The New York Times, the music of American composer Viet Cuong has been performed on six continents by musicians and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Sō Percussion, Alarm Will Sound, Atlanta Symphony, Sandbox Percussion, Albany Symphony, PRISM Quartet, and Dallas Winds, among many others. Cuong’s music has been featured in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center, and his works for wind ensemble have amassed several hundreds of performances worldwide. Passionate about bringing these different facets of the contemporary music community together, his recent projects include a concerto for Eighth Blackbird with the United States Navy Band. Cuong also enjoys exploring the unexpected and whimsical, and he is often drawn to projects where he can make peculiar combinations and sounds feel enchanting or oddly satisfying. His works thus include a snare drum solo, percussion quartet concerto, and double oboe concerto. He is currently the Pacific Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence and serves as Assistant Professor of Music Composition at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Cuong holds degrees from Princeton University (MFA/PhD), the Curtis Institute of Music (AD), and Peabody Conservatory (BM/MM).
Heart on Fire (2022)
Heart on Fire was inspired by Mary Oliver's poem "Walking to Oak-Head Pond, and Thinking of the Ponds I Will Visit in the Next Days and Weeks", which evokes themes of hope in the face of hardship, and living every day to the fullest.
What is so utterly invisible
as tomorrow?
Not love,
not the wind,
not the inside of a stone.
Not anything.
And yet, how often I'm fooled--
I'm wading along
in the sunlight--
and I'm sure I can see the fields and the ponds shining
days ahead--
I can see the light spilling
like a shower of meteors
into next week's trees,
and I plan to be there soon--
and, so far, I am
just that lucky,
my legs splashing
over the edge of darkness,
my heart on fire.
-note by consortium member Andy Collinsworth
Consortium Members:
Arizona State University - Jason Caslor
Bradley University - Darrell Brown
California Polytechnic State University, Pomona - Rickey Badua
Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo - Christopher Woodruff
California State University, East Bay - Danielle Gaudry
California State University, Los Angeles - Emily Moss
Sonoma State University - Andy Collinsworth
Gonzaga University - Peter Hamlin
Idaho State University - Thomas Kloss
Pacific University - Michael Burch Pesses
Pomona College - Graydon Beeks
Mount San Antonio College - Doris Doyon
San José State University - David Vickerman
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Sean Murray
University of British Columbia - Robert Taylor
University of Central Missouri - Anthony Pursell
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa - Jeffrey Boeckman
University of Montana - James Smart
University of Nevada, Reno - Reed Chamberlin
University of North Carolina at Greensboro - Kevin Geraldi and Jonathan Caldwell
University of San Diego - Jeffrey Malecki
University of West Georgia - Josh Byrd
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh - Devin Otto
Washington State University - Danh Pham & Troy Bennefield
Instrumentation
For Wind Band
Performer
Arizona State University Wind Symphony
Conducted by Kevin Joseph
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