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ALBUM in progress...
EQ is so excited to be completing our debut album this year entitled [moment]um.
track list
Herman Beeftink Frequency
Sung-Hyun Yun Recurrence
Nicky Sohn Left on Sweetleaf*
Heike Beckmann Levada
Jennifer Higdon Steeley Pause
Kai-Young Chan Jo-Ha-Kyu
*world premiere
about the album
Emissary Quartet’s debut album [moment]um is inspired by the Japanese concept of jo-ha-kyū, a structure that reflects the natural flow of progression: beginning slowly (jo), accelerating through development (ha), and culminating in a swift and powerful conclusion (kyū). This theme of movement and motion is brought to life through contemporary works by living composers, Jennifer Higdon, Kai-Young Chan, Sung-Hyun Yun, Nicky Sohn, Heike Beckmann, and Herman Beeftink. Each composer uses the unique textures and timbres of the flute and auxiliary flutes, to evoke a sense of continuous transformation. Each piece within the album highlights various facets of motion, from the meditative, gradually unfolding soundscapes of the opening movements to the more dynamic, rhythmically intricate passages that create a palpable sense of urgency and energy. The living composers draw upon a wide range of influences, blending minimalist repetition with more expansive, lyrical phrasing to reflect [moment]um, while exploring the capacity of sound to depict both literal and abstract forms of motion.
about the composers
Herman Beeftink
Herman Beeftink is a Dutch-American composer born in 1952 in the Netherlands and now based in Southern California. His musical journey began in Amersfoort, where a local marching band sparked his passion. He studied at Utrecht Conservatory, where he developed a Blues and Jazz method and taught at the Jazz Department. After moving to Los Angeles, he became deeply involved in the jazz scene, collaborating with musicians like Steve Reid and TV/Film composer Dan Foliart on shows like Cheers and Home Improvement. In the late 1990s, he transitioned to composing for over 100 films and series, with works featured in The Simpsons Movie and Hannah Montana: The Movie. Today, Beeftink continues to compose for film and TV while creating performance pieces, appreciating those who bring his music to life.
FREQUENCY's setting is the serene depths of the universe. We begin our meditation with the stars and galaxies, exploring our emotional connection to the forces of truth and beauty of our universe. As we experience this journey, our emotions are present in the melodic lines and harmonies of the four utes. As we travel further and further away, we start feeling lonely, isolated from human life on Earth—so we send a radio signal home. Indeed, as human beings, we are able to connect through sound waves in speech and music. Even across literally astronomical distances, we can use radio frequencies to communicate with our Planet Earth. Throughout the piece, we play a repeating echo-like note like a radio ping, to represent the frequency that connects us all throughout the universe.
Sung-Hyun Yun
Born and raised in Busan, South Korea, Sung-Hyun Yun began playing piano and studying composition at an early age. At 20, he moved to the United States, earning degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (B.M.), Yale School of Music (M.M.), and Eastman School of Music (Ph.D.), where he studied under esteemed mentors like Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler, Jacob Druckman, and Martin Bresnick. His academic achievements include prestigious awards such as the Francis Wicks Prize, Yale's John Day Jackson Prize, and Eastman's Howard Hanson Prize. An accomplished composer, Yun has won the Washington International Competition for Composers and the Deutsche Oper Berlin Chamber Music Competition. Active in his home country, he has composed for prominent ensembles such as the Festival Ensemble of Seoul and the Korean National Choir. Yun currently serves as a professor of composition at Yonsei University in Seoul.
RECURRENCE was one of the top 3 winners of our 2017 Call for Scores Competition. Recurrence is composed for 4 C Flutes and highlights a recurring theme but expands its musical depth each time it’s repeated.
Kai-Young Chan
Kai-Young Chan is an Assistant Professor of Composition at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he has taught since 2016. His research explores Cantonese contemporary music, challenging Western paradigms and stereotypes of Asian music. Praised for his cross-cultural fusion, his works have been performed by renowned ensembles like the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic. Chan's collaborations with artists such as violinist Patrick Yim have produced acclaimed works, and his compositions are released by leading labels including Ablaze and innova. He has participated in major international festivals and received multiple awards, including the CASH Golden Sail Music Award. Chan developed the open-access "Cantonese Melody Generator" to promote Cantonese music and reduce language barriers, and he organized the first international conference on Cantonese contemporary music. With a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, he has received teaching honors at CUHK and has received research grants to explore the intersection of Cantonese music, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience.
JO-HA-KYU was originally written for saxophone quartet in 2014 and then later written for flute quartet, which then received the top prize for the Emissary Quartet’s 2017 Call for Scores. "Jo-ha-kyū" (序破急), meaning "beginning, break, rapid," is a Japanese concept of modulation and movement applied in various traditional arts, including martial arts, Noh theatre, and gagaku music, signifying a progression from slow to fast. Jo (序): represents the "beginning" or "opening" phase, characterized by a slow, measured tempo and a sense of calm and preparation. Ha (破): signifies the "break" or "progression" phase, where the tempo increases and the action becomes more intense and dynamic. Kyū (急): indicates the "rapid" or "climax" phase, characterized by a swift and energetic conclusion.
Jennifer Higdon
Jennifer Higdon, Pulitzer Prize and three-time Grammy winner, is one of the most performed
living American composers working today. She is the recent recipient of Northwestern
University’s Nemmers Prize and the UT Austin EM King Award. Other honors include the
Guggenheim, Koussevitzky, and Pew Fellowships, as well as two awards from the American
Academy of Arts & Letters. Commissions have come from a wide range of performers: from the
Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony, to The President’s Own Marine Band; from
the Tokyo String Quartet to Eighth Blackbird, as well as individual artists such as singer Thomas
Hampson, violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist, Yuja Wang. Her first opera on Charles Frazier’s
book, Cold Mountain, was commissioned by Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, NC Opera,
and Minnesota Opera and won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere. Higdon
makes her living from commissions and serves as composer-in-residence with various orchestras throughout the country. Her works are recorded on over 80 CDs. For more info, visit www.jenniferhigdon.com
STEELEY PAUSE first came to me while I was thinking about creating intensity in music and about the challenge of writing a piece that is full of tension. "Steeley" is from the metal steel, which implies intensity. "Pause" carries two meanings in the context of the piece. In the first, it represents the moments of silence in the piece, which, because of all the musical activity occurring around them, are within themselves intense. And secondly, "Pause" means to take a moment, which is about the duration of this work, since the longer intensity goes on, the less intense it becomes.
Nicky Sohn
Selected as one of the "Cool 100" by Houston CityBook Magazine, alongside icons like Simone Biles and Megan Thee Stallion, composer Nicky Sohn is a versatile and sought-after voice in contemporary classical music. With a distinctive style characterized by jazz-inspired, rhythmically driven themes, her work has been praised internationally for being “undoubtedly the crowd pleaser of the evening” (YourObserver), “dynamic and full of vitality” (The Korea Defense Daily), showcasing “colorful orchestration” (NewsBrite), and evoking “elegant wonder” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).
Sohn has received commissions and performances from major institutions, including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Minnesota Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony, Albany Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and National Orchestra of Korea. Her work has also been featured by the New York Choreographic Institute, Stuttgart Ballet, and Dogs of Desire reflecting her broad artistic range across orchestral, vocal, ballet, and socially driven music projects.
A passionate advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration, Sohn says, “I’m obsessed with the collaborative aspects of it—working with artists across disciplines. Hearing my work meld with someone else’s imagination is incredibly fulfilling.” A notable example is her violin concerto commissioned by Kinetic Ensemble and violinist Mary Grace Johnson in partnership with The Women’s Home in Houston, an organization supporting women overcoming addiction and homelessness. The project provided a platform for these women’s stories, reinforcing Sohn’s commitment to using music as a vehicle for advocacy and connection.
Recent highlights include the premiere of Nicky Sohn’s guitar concerto with the Albany Symphony, featuring world-renowned guitarist Bokyung Byun. The performances received rave reviews and sold-out shows, with the chamber orchestra version set to be featured in the 2025 Tanglewood Music Festival season. Sohn also worked with the Balourdet Quartet on Galaxy Back to You, a piece commissioned following their Avery Fisher Career Grant win, which will be included on their debut CD. Looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, Sohn is composing a large-scale ballet for BalletCollective, in collaboration with celebrated choreographer Alysa Pires and acclaimed visual artist Linn Meyers. Additionally, she is writing a new concert opener for the Atlanta Symphony.
LEFT ON SWEETLEAF: One of the most profound aspects of being a musician lies in music’s inherent ability to unite people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and locales. Regardless of linguistic barriers, music serves as a universal language, fostering deep connections by transcending cultural differences and evoking shared emotions. Collaborating with fellow female musicians, who share similar life journeys in a still male-dominated industry, amplifies this understanding. The women of Emissary Quartet share these experiences of working as female musicians, while also drawing from their unique backgrounds, personalities, and proficiencies. Today, female musicians are increasingly vocal, advocating for the recognition and empowerment of their perspectives, highlighting the significance of representation and inclusivity. I'm envisioning crafting a piece that articulates the aspirations I hold for the younger generation of female musicians, whether they're navigating conservatories or the professional world—a vision I wish I had embraced when reflecting on my own journey. The internal struggle of choosing how and when to use your voice as a woman will be reflected in the progression of the piece. The colors available in the instrumentation of the flute quartet - piccolo, flute, alto flute, and bass flute - perfectly portray the dichotomy of individuality versus collaboration, with each voice able to either blend and support or come to the forefront.
Heike Beckmann
Heike Beckmann is a versatile composer, musical director, and pianist with a diverse background in history, theology, and music, having studied at the University of Siegen and the Robert Schumann University of Music, Düsseldorf. She further honed her craft by studying jazz piano with Frank Chastenier and Rainer Brüninghaus, and composition/arranging with renowned figures such as Peter Herbolzheimer, Jerry van Rooyen, and William Motzing. Beckmann's career spans a wide range of performances and collaborations, including directing and arranging for orchestras like the Freiburg Academic Orchestra and Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, and creating innovative projects like Vivaldi meets Breakdance – The 4 Seasons in 2013. She has also worked on numerous theater productions, soundtracks, and cabarets, with notable performances including Phoneheads and the Würzburg Symphony Orchestra and Barefoot in the Rain. Beckmann’s compositions reflect her ability to blend classical and contemporary styles, and she has taught at Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg while continuing to collaborate with artists in diverse genres.
Levadas are centuries-old irrigation channels on the island of Madeira. Spring water from the mountains is guided along steeply sliding slopes, through valleys, canyons and forests, almost at sea level, usually to irrigate banana plantations and gardens created there, but also to provide drinking water. The levadas can be walked on the side, and so a levada hike leads you from the first source drop to the small river size through fascinating landscapes that are not or only difficult to reach by car or even on foot. The composition traces such a migration, started from the first trickle, the steady and never-ending uniform river of the water in the midst of a changing environment. LEVADA uses the percussive design options of the flute. In addition to the melodious sound qualities, each flute is assigned a characteristic percussion-ve timbre, which in interaction recalls the function of drums and bass in popular music.