Weathering it
Composer Bun-ching Lam stays creatively active in unfamiliar depths of upstate winter.
“It’s a trial just to keep warm and I’ve never seen so much snow. It’s beautiful for about three days and then it’s a hassle.”
This is the first winter in upstate New York for Bunching Lam, a composer and pianist who was born in the Macao region of China.
Though her observations about our weather may sound pretty familiar, it’s something of an accomplishment that she’s managed to avoid the frigid elements for this long considering she’s called Poestenkill home for the last 36 years. Actually, the village in Rensselaer County is just one of her homes. The other is an apartment in Paris.
Lam’s partner is Gunnar A. Kaldewey, a German-born artist who makes limited edition museum quality books. The couple normally relocates to France during the month of October and only returns to the States after things have thawed. Covid-19, of course, has changed all that.
It’s yet to be seen if a long gray season in the frozen countryside will affect the character of Lam’s latest music. She’s prone to writing pieces about springtime.
Do a quick scan of her large catalog of works and you’ll find the word “spring” in seven different titles – “Spring Yearning,” “Spring Waters,” “Spring Roll” and so on.a petite woman with a gentle and accented voice, Lam seems like nothing could really faze her. Yet she’s still sensitive to the environment, saying, “When I was living in Seattle I wrote a lot more sad music because it was raining all the time and I was alone. When the sun’s out I’m happier.”
Balmy Southern California was Lam’s first American outpost. She arrived there in 1976 on a scholarship for graduate studies at the University of California San Diego. After completing her PH.D., she
Bun-ching Lam
taught for five years at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Then she moved to New York City and became an active presence on the new music scene.
“The Child God,” her first opera, was premiered at the Bang on a Can festival in 1993. In recent years, she has been commissioned by violinist Hil
ary Hahn and held residencies with the New Jersey Philharmonic and the Macao Orchestra.
Local audiences have encountered Lam’s music in numerous programs of the Albany Symphony starting in music director David Alan Miller’s second season. Among her ASO commissions, she wrote a muted and dappled tone poem that opened a memorable night in the orchestra’s history featuring Yo-yo Ma as the star soloist in the Beethoven triple and the
Brahms double at the Palace back in 2006. That piece, titled “Poestenkill Pastorale,” was inspired by the view from Lam’s property as the seasons turn from summer to autumn.
In recalling the contour of the piece, she says, “I look at this mountain and the maple trees and imagined how they change colors to red and brown from green.”
Currently on Lam’s desk is a concerto for sheng, a Chinese reed instrument, with orchestra. Though commissioned by the Sorbonne University in
Paris, the piece has been in the works for a while now.
“I’m not working in a hurry, I never could, I just work on it,” she says. “I have to turn down some things. They want a piece yesterday. I’m not too productive and there are other things that interest me. I practice calligraphy, I read and I’m learning French.”
Next up after the concerto will be a piece for classical guitarist David Leisner, who has been a friend for decades.
Another close colleague is the baritone Thomas Buckner. This month the Navano label is releasing “Conversations with My Soul,” a new CD featuring six pieces that Lam wrote for Buckner over the last 25 years. She accompanies Buckner from the piano on two of the pieces.
Early in her career Lam didn’t have the luxury of just working with friends or taking commissions from big but patient institutions. She recalls Pauline Oliveros chiding her: “She said I was a pushover, writing for anyone who asks. As a young composer you’re so grateful, but I realized for each note I wrote I lost 50 cents.”
The late Oliveros, who was an RPI professor and lived in Kingston, became Lam’s mentor at UC San Diego when she was a faculty member and Lam was a student. They stayed close over the ensuing decades and Lam served for a time on the board of Oliveros’ Deep Listening Foundation.
Lam’s quiet Zen manner bears a strong resemblance to the grounded wisdom that Oliveros carried. Asked to share a favorite memory from their relationship, Lam again brings up Olivero’s practical side and recalls being told: “Keep doing what you’re good at until you get paid for it.”
Another project on Lam’s agenda is making cards for Chinese New Year, which arrives Feb. 12th. She explains that it’s a tradition to send handwritten notes using red paper and red envelopes. “The Chinese name means ‘Wave to spring’ and it brings good luck.” Some of the friends on her list have a large collection from over the years.
“It’s going to be the year of the ox. That should be good after one of the worst years in history,” says Lam with a little laugh. “The ox is tough and strong. They work hard and they have horns to protect themselves.”
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I’m not working in a hurry, I never could, I just work on it. I have to turn down some things. They want a piece yesterday. I’m not too productive and there are other things that interest me. I practice calligraphy, I read and I’m learning French.”
— Bun-ching Lam