Kerry Yong

Kerry Yong

Statistics: Kerry Yong

Angle: obtuse (since even my friends sometimes don't know what i'm talking about), but perhaps acute, if you've seen my build.
Standard practice: this used to be playing the piano. now nothing seems standard anymore.
Height: 6 foot, IC5 male.
Nested irrationals: can make you dizzy at first. some of the time they are worthwhile when you can understand why the composer had to use them. irrationals are simply irritating and irrelevant in other contexts - they encourage cheating and fraud.
Frequency: i can be a bit omnivorous - i like most of them in moderation and excess. oh, i like prime numbers.
Sustenance: i'm genetically chinese. we eat most things and are pretty obsessed with food. i generally prefer savoury to sweet and big meals to snacks but i probably break the rule. music is also sustenance. and the sacrement of bread and wine.
Time: being a 'last-minute-person' i could always do with more. time always seems to pass too quickly.
Bonus: i got one once when i worked in the office of a film music composer.

Omar Johnsen (Casiokids) interviews Kerry Yong

Q How did you come to use Casio keyboards in contemporary music settings?

A  It came slightly by accident and is still quite a new project: I was booked to play in a new series called Kämmer Klang in East London that experiments with performing ‘serious’ new music in different settings – like bars.  The venue had a piano there on the day the organiser visited it.  But then the piano disappeared – the venue hadn’t made it clear that it wasn’t always there. Rather than withdraw, I thought of a crazy substitute. Although these works were originally for piano with electronics, Aitsi by Scelsi also existed as a string quartet and I always wondered if it could work on electric guitars. And Stockhausen’s Klavierstuck XVI allows for the inclusion of electronic synthesizers and samplers. At the same time, a friend had lent me his Casio keyboard (an MT-210), which we were using to make lo-fi retro-sounding music at church. So the experiment of retro-adapting works for an 80s Casiotone began: the project COVER ME CASIO was born.

Q What do think about Walter/Wendy Carlos (with the use of Moog synthesizers on "Switched on Bach") or other people performing or recording music from the classical world with so called non-traditional instruments?

A I have a generally positive view of adapting music for new forces. I LOVE the Wendy Carlos’s Switched on Bach: they bring out aspects of the music that are killed by a certain seriousness and preciousness in classical performance.  And the thing is, great performances of Bach will still continue – it’s very robust music and the diversity is refreshing and illuminating.  As for performing or adapting music that isn’t your mother-tongue – I see great value in it: sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t.  But it’s worth giving it a go.  And even if the result has a somewhat limited shelf-life, you still learn and experience something new from both musics.  And it’s a kind of dare too – the risk is actually quite fun!

Q What are are the reactions like to your casio-oriented performances?

A  It certainly depends who you ask. So far, I’ve been fortunate enough to receive only positive reactions, a few baffled but curious ones, but mostly very enthusiastic. However, I did receive one negative reaction to the performance of one work: that it was ‘totally wrong’.  I try to take this in the best possible light…

Q I know you are familiar with the Bergen-based composer Knut Vaage.  What fascinates you about his work?

A Knut Vaage has an excellent imagination for colour and drama. The Electra pieces (which I will newly adapt for the Festival) have a wonderful palette of colour, noise and space, and a great sense for pacing and action.

Q Which Casio sound (preset) is your favourite?

A But there are twenty delightful ones to choose from – not including the beats and accompaniments!  I’ll try to name my top four: vibraphone, ‘funny’, synth guitar and jazz organ. But I want to include more!

Post & Mulder

  Friday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
20:00 Luke Fowler Exhibition Bergen Kunsthall
  Sunday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
18:00 Concert/performance Griegakademiet Prøvesalen
20:00 Concert/performance Altona wine bar, Augustin Hotel
  Tuesday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
Theme Tune,Theme Tune
13:00 Film - Kino Borealis Landmark
15:30 Gerhard Eckel Exhibition Rom 8
17:00 Mette Karlsvik Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek
18:00 Gerhard Stäbler Admiral Hotel / Bryggen
19:00 Else Olsen Storesund Concert/performance Bergen Pianoforretning
19:30 Exhibition Bergen Pianoforretning
20:00 Sigurd Fischer Olsen,Ricardo Odriozola & Friends,Siegfried Kutterer Concert/performance Kalmarhuset leiligheter
20:00 Ricardo Odriozola & Friends See below,Logen,Landmark,USF Verftet,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
21:00
22:00 Thomas Ankersmit,Phill Niblock Concert/performance Landmark
  Wednesday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
Øyvind Skarbø,Tor Kristian Liseth,Jennifer Walshe Concert/performance,Film - Kino Borealis See below,Salhus Tricotagefabrik,Rådhuset,Landmark
Siegfried Kutterer,Domenico Melchiorre,Szilard Buti DNB Lars Hillesgate 30,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
13:00 Film - Kino Borealis Landmark
15:30 David Helbich,Gerhard Eckel Rom 8
17:00 Kjersti Rorgemoen Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek
18:30 GNEIS,Rolf Borch,Knut Vaage,Ricardo Odriozola & Friends,Kunsu Shim,Gerhard Stäbler Salhus Tricotagefabrik
20:00 Ricardo Odriozola & Friends See below,Logen,Landmark,USF Verftet,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
21:00
  Thursday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
Siegfried Kutterer,Domenico Melchiorre,Szilard Buti DNB Lars Hillesgate 30,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
13:00 Film - Kino Borealis Landmark
17:00 Erlend O. Nødtvedt Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek
18:00 John Tilbury Bergen Kunsthall,Landmark
19:30 Apartment House,Kunsu Shim,Gerhard Stäbler Kunstmuseum, Stenersen
20:00 Ricardo Odriozola & Friends See below,Logen,Landmark,USF Verftet,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
20:30 Knut Vaage,Casiokids,Kerry Yong Kunstmuseum, Stenersen
21:00
22:30 Casiokids,Kerry Yong Landmark
23:30 Idiot Switch Concert/performance Landmark
  Friday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
11:30 Fidan Aghayeva,Mai Goto,Chihiro Ito,Annabel Guaita,Steve Reich,Gilius van Bergeijk,Post & Mulder Bergen Pianoforretning
13:00 Film - Kino Borealis Landmark
15:30 Anders Førisdal,Laurence Crane,Gerhard Eckel Rom 8 Free entrance
17:00 Øyvind Rimbereid Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek
17:45 Else Olsen Storesund Bergen Pianoforretning Free entrance
18:00 John Tilbury,Michael Duch Bergen Pianoforretning 80/60
19:30 Logos Foundation Exhibition Logen
20:00 BIT20 Percussion,Anders Førisdal,Apartment House,Szilard Buti,Domenico Melchiorre,Siegfried Kutterer,Kunsu Shim,Robyn Schulkowsky Concert/performance Logen
20:00 Ricardo Odriozola & Friends See below,Logen,Landmark,USF Verftet,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
21:00
23:00 Magda Mayas & Tony Buck Logen
24:00 Trondheim Jazzorkester,Kim Myhr Concert/performance Logen
  Saturday
Tid Artist Type event Sted Billettpris
Øyvind Skarbø,Tor Kristian Liseth,Jennifer Walshe Concert/performance,Film - Kino Borealis See below,Salhus Tricotagefabrik,Rådhuset,Landmark
12:00 Exhibition Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek
13:00 Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek Free entrance
15:00 Collegiûm Mûsicûm,Gerhard Stäbler,Kunsu Shim 180/150
15:00 Knut Vaage Concert/performance 180/150
20:00 Ricardo Odriozola & Friends See below,Logen,Landmark,USF Verftet,Salhus Tricotagefabrik
22:00 The Chap Landmark
22:00 DYGONG Concert/performance Landmark
23:00 The Chap Concert/performance Landmark
24:00 Landmark