Printable list of compositions (PDF format)
* To obtain score and parts, please email me at info@alanchanmusic.com.

Orchestral music
Jazz Big Band / Ensemble
Chamber Music
Vocal music
Solo Instruments
Electronic music
Ethnic instruments
Works in progress

Daughter's Lullaby (2006/07) for chamber orchestra (2.2.2.2;2.1.1.0;t+2p;str.)

Daughter's Lullaby (2006/07) for voice and orchestra (voice;2.2.2.2;2.1.1.0;t+2p;hp;str.)
5' MP3 (reading session, from the beginning)
Courtney Huffman, voice; Joshua Roach, conductor; USC Thornton Symphony
- Chosen for the 2008 University of Southern California New Music for Orchestra Concert

Performance history

Burlesque (2004) for orchestra  12' MP3 (premiere performance, excerpt)
- Winner, 2004 Concerto Aria Competition, University of Missouri - Kansas City
Burlesque is a form of cabaret show, complete with underdressed dancers and strip-tease elements, and was popular from the 1860s through the 1950s.  Burlesque is currently undergoing a bit of a revival, and the composer was intrigued with the humorous skits, fancy costumes and the frank, corny jokes (mostly about sex). 
The spirit of burlesque ¡V a fast-moving panorama of entertaining events ¡V is at the heart of this musical work, which features multi-ethnic and vernacular elements. Various forms of the scale are used to weave together such diverse musics as ancient Chinese ritual music and exotic gypsy circus fanfare, creating a modern burlesque, or an anarchical postmodern collage.

Composition (2) (Etenraku) (2000) for orchestra MP3  
Not long ago I began to be aware of music of my own heritage and for the first time, I incorporated it, as well as my recently discovered uses of color, into my own music.  Composition (2) is an orchestral adaptation of a piece of Gagaku music called Etenraku, Japanese ancient court music adopted from China during the Tang Dynasty (6-8th Century). It was read by University of Miami Symphony Orchestra.

Île de feu (2005, Olivier Messiaen, Orch. Alan Chan) for orchestra

Shrimp Tale (2005-07) for Jazz orchestra 8' MP3 (premiere performance, climax)
Ryan Lerman, guitar; Matt Rubin, trumpet; USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra (director: Shelly Berg)

I dedicated this uplifting piece to my cousin, in hope of making her feel better while she was recovering from a difficult divorce. Shrimp Tale is a recollection of life in Miami, where I lived for three years, and the diverse and vibrant culture there. It has a curvy narrative structure that includes two contrasting thematic elements: a groove-based 5/4-meter passage and a Salsa tune that are first exposed in short passages and are juxtaposed against each other. Various thematic transformations bring out different meanings for each element, often with a sense of humor or irony.The tensions created by this dichotomy begin to ease in the later part of the piece, when the previous ideas start to relate to each other in a series of events, and ultimately bring the piece to a happy ending.

Moving to a New Capital (2006/07) for Jazz orhcestra 12' MP3 (premiere performance, towards the end)
Kari Harris, Trombone; Alan Chan, conductor; USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra (director: Shelly Berg)

The original Chinese title of this work, Qian Dao Yuan*, literally means ¡§Moving-Capital-Blues.¡¨? This piece is a composer¡¦s reflection on the severe pollution in Beijing, the capital of China. The number of infamous dust storms has increased and intensified in recent years, due to soil erosion and desert expansion created by over-harvesting during the Cultural Revolution (1968-78).? In addition, industrial and urban pollutants from factories and cars have worsened the air quality.? Over-population and industrialization have also caused water shortages in the region.? In 2002, the former prime minister of China, Zhu Yong Ji, warned that moving to a new capital may be the only option if no action is taken soon.
* It is also a pun on a title of a famous novel Chin Gong Yuan, which talks about the political conflicts in the imperial household of the late Chin dynasty.

Peanut Noir (2005) for Jazz ensemble 6'

Nica's Dream (Horace Silver, Arr. Alan Chan) (2001) for Jazz Big Band   MP3
Final project of Jazz arranging class, read by Concert Jazz Band of the University of Miami School of Music.

Midnight Mood (Joe Zawinul, Arr. Alan Chan) (2001) for 5 Saxs MP3
Mid-term project of Jazz arranging class, read by students from the University of Miami School of Music.

Sweet Bach for five percussion players 15'
(Commissioned by Lien Percussion Ensemble, Taiwan, dedicated to Sam Lee)
We knew a great deal about Bach¡¦s language and his wisdom by learning his music. This piece is an attempt to bring our Bach lovers to a different angle of understanding of Bach ¡V by fusing his works to the contemporary language and medium (in this case, percussion). This is similar to the Marilyn Monroe¡¦s portrait by Andy Warhol, or opera Einstein On the Beach by Philip Glass. This is a new experience of Bach¡¦s music, with or without the connotation about the culture or time that he came from.

The first movement is called Fugue Islands. I was fascinated by the contrapuntal writing in the form of fugue and decided to take themes from Bach ¡V the ostinati in the prelude of the G major Cello Suite and the Aria from the Goldberg Variations in a different tempo, and play simultaneously to contrast the tranquil and majestic feelings that these themes represent respectively ¡V a kaleidoscope so-to-speak. Gavotte and Salsa are both folk dances in a fast tempo. The former came from the seventeenth-century France, the other from modern day Cuba. To have both in the same movement is truly a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Badinerie from Bach¡¦s Orchestral Suite No.1 is widely known, and it originally means ¡§to jest.¡¨ When it combines join force with the chant of Dies Irae, it marks the creation of the Skeleton Dance, and it also brings the piece to an end.

Des Voeux (2007) for violin and cello 10' MP3 (premiere performance, from the beginning)
(Commissioned by Arts and Culture Development Fund with the support of Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong)
David Leung, Violin; Letty Poon, Cello

This work is a tribute to Ravel¡¦s Duo for violin and cello.? Like Ravel¡¦s Duo, it is a piece with a heavy emotional content, and includes many advance writings for both instruments.? Des VÈúux was the governor of colonial Hong Kong (1887-1891) and the name of a street in memory of him, which now located in the center of the financial district in Hong Kong.? A French surname, Des VÈúux can be translated as ¡§wishes.¡¨? The piece starts with a somber fugal subject on cello.? With the violin joining, the intensity gradually increases until a repetitive and aggressive motive abruptly takes over in the middle of the movement.? After a dream-like transition, it closes with a peaceful hymn and with the returning fugue subject at the very end.

Q (2006) for wind quintet 7' MP3 (ending of 5th mvt.)
(Commissioned by Composers' Forum of the East)

metal...stone...being...cracked (2001/02) for five percussion players  12'
(Commissioned by Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong)
- Honorable Mentioned, 2002 ASCAP Morton Gould Composer Awards
- Winner, 2006 Louisiana State University Percussion Composition Competition
University of Memphis Percussion Ensemble MP3 (excerpt)

Jin Shi Wei Kai (literally translated as metal¡Kstone¡Kbeing¡Kcracked) is an ancient Chinese idiom, dates back to the 5th century B.C., which tells about a famous archer and the struggle between his will and the unruly force of nature. It implies that if we have faith and effort, we can accomplish any difficult task. Similar proverbs can be found in the Bible such as ¡§Moving Mountains¡¨ from Saint Paul¡¦s letters.

Composition 1 (2000) for string quintet and harp MP3
The idea of this piece came from the Adagietto from Mahler¡¦s Symphony No.5.  The make up of the String Quintet, which consists of two violins, a viola and two cellos, was used in Franz Schubert¡¦s String Quintet in C major.  Two cellos are used instead of one, which darkens the overall sound quality of the piece.

Composition 0 (2000) for woodwind quintet and percussion MP3
This is the first piece I have ever written, which involves a great deal of planning in terms of forms, texture, pitch organizations and timbre control.In this piece, I applied a lot of techniques that I learned during my stay in Vienna studying with Michael Jarrell.Through working with the members of the Other Music Ensemble, much potential in this combination was discovered and used in this piece.The sounds of each individual instrument are merged together and transformed from one color to another.

OPEN (1999) for 3 percussionist MP3
It was originally composed for a student theater production called Open, directed by Gino Ng in Lehigh University.  This music appears in the beginning of the play as an overture.  The idea came from the methods of communication between humans in prehistoric time using drums.  A contrast would be the way we communicate using the Internet by typing into the computer.

Beautiful Rebirth (2008) for voice and piano (text: Ho Wen-Hsiung) 6'
(Commissioned by Lin-lin Chang Bel Canto Theatre)

A Spirit's Dream (2006) for voice and piano (text: Ho Wen-Hsiung) 6'MP3 (interlude)
(Commissioned by Lin-lin Chang Bel Canto Theatre)
Courtney Huffman, voice; Alan Chan, piano