With music described as “evocative” by The New York Times, Canadian-born Vivian Fung has distinguished herself as a composer with a powerful compositional voice, whose music often merges Western forms with non-Western influences such as Balinese and Javanese gamelan and folk songs from minority regions of China. New projects in the current 2012-2013 concert season include commissions for an orchestral work for Chicago Sinfonietta under Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, a new string quartet for the Banff International String Quartet Competition, a new work for piano for the International Beethoven Project in Chicago, a gamelan work, “Kreasi Mekanik Mainan” for Gamelan Yowana Sari at Queens College, and “Gamelan Grunge” for Contact Contemporary Music in Toronto. In September 2012, Naxos Canadian Classics released the world premiere recording of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto Dreamscapes and Glimpses for prepared piano, featuring Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, featuring violinist Kristin Lee and pianist Conor Hanick.