A Day and Life: Piano concert

A Day and Life

Mina Yu will present an album of original musical works called 'A Day and Life', representing small daily acts such as talking, sleeping, eating and walking. The everyday rituals of daily life are often taken for granted. These simple and small acts take up most of the time in one's life and become its essence. Composer Mina Yu brings attention to the magic of these small daily acts by creating a series of songs inspired by them.

This collaborative concert will feature solo piano performed by Mina and projections by two people, Mina Yu (Melbourne, Aus) and Somda (Seoul, South Korea). Each person will create a visual representation of how they spend their daily life in their city, which will form the basis of the music videos on the album. These videos will be projected at the concert alongside a live piano performance.

Mina's music evokes the concept of Synesthesia - a phenomenon where the stimulation of one sense leads to experiences in a second sensory pathway. Daily rituals derive their power from repetition, sometimes for many years. The music presented at the concert will represent the repetition of daily rituals through cyclical motifs. The overall sound will be cinematic, dream-like and magical.

Everywhere in the world, all of us cook, commute to work/school and sleep but the details are different depending on where we live. Koreans eat Kimchi everyday while in Australia, we have a jar of Vegemite in our pantry. Despite these differences, everyone cooks as part of their ritual. As an immigrant herself, Mina understands what separates us and brings us together. By collaborating with two artists from two different countries, she would like to communicate with a broader global audience by representing the similarities and differences in the rituals of daily life.

Artist
Mina Yu, pianist and composer
Somda, videographer
David Rusanow, editor

Program
Reading while bathing
Cooking eggs
Alone in the car
Walking along the stream
Talking about what's for dinner
Eating BBQ
Working from the cafe
Breathing
Shopping at the market
Sleeping at the end of the day

About the artist
Born in South Korea, raised in the USA, Mina Yu is now one of the most exciting and busy pianists in Australia. During the last two years, she has collaborated on a number of albums and projects, with artists such as Women of Soul, Uncomfortable Science, SKOV, ZEDSIX, Richard Pavlidis and Fem Belling. The album 'Shape of Jazz' by ZEDSIX was nominated for the best jazz album award from Music Victoria and won the best producer award at the Bell Australian Jazz Awards. In addition to these collaborations, Mina has performed with her own group at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Melbourne International Women's Jazz Festival, Devonport Jazz Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Melbourne Recital Centre and Hawthorn Arts Centre. Mina has also been described as being "the most elegant pianist" in The Australian newspaper. Currently, Mina works as a piano lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne and has worked as an artist in residency at the Berklee - inspired program. Mina received a Bachelor of Music degree at Berklee College of Music and a Master's in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. She received multiple scholarships and awards at both institutions.

Supported by the City of Melbourne Arts Grants

Artist Website
https://www.minayumusic.com/discography
Artist Recordings
https://www.youtube.com/c/MinaPiano