Yuanyuan He

Interests

Teaching

I believe music education is unique because of the nature of the subject. For me, music is the most direct and natural tool to express human emotion and artistic meaning. Music is easier to be felt and moved than reading a book. Music is also a more natural way to present and perceive the meaning of art than acting (theater). Additionally, music provides endless possibility and flexibility for each person to understand the significant meaning of life because musical perception is more subjective than other art forms. It is for these reasons I love teaching music to the next generation of musicians. As a teacher, I wish to maximize my students’ skill sets, to allow them to make music independently and to become self-sufficient learners. To accomplish this, my teaching encompasses a variety of musical skills and techniques, including composition, music technology, music theory, multimedia production, and performance. I have worked hard to find effective ways to provide my students with the opportunity and skill to do and achieve anything they desire with music, as well as to become well-rounded musicians. From here, there are three primary experiences that inform my teaching philosophy: as a composition teacher, as an electro-acoustic music composer, and as a multimedia artist. Composition is a type of creation, similar to writing, in that everyone has their own unique way of expressing themselves. A good composition teacher is not only teaching composition techniques but also inspiring students to find their own passion and motivation for writing music. I believe that without the urge to use music to express one’s feelings, the outcome will be creatively unchallenged and potentially lose the meaning of being a work of art. In my Composition lessons as Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, other than teaching advanced compositional techniques, I also inspire my students with meaningful life stories. Through these stories, I teach them how to feel and follow their heart, using music as an outlet to express their aesthetic ideas and achieve their artistic goals. I inspire my students using examples in scores and recordings of my own music, as well as those of other composers. Together, we analyze how the composers achieve certain effects by using specific compositional techniques through proper notation. I often provide multiple solutions to my students’ composition questions to help them understand and eventually establish their own compositional styles, which will serve as a well developed and unique music language to support their music composition career. I believe composition lessons integrate form and analysis, harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration. I believe a good composer needs to become an “expert” of the instruments he/she writes for, have a wide range of knowledge of repertoire (both classical and contemporary compositions), have a strong grasp of compositional techniques, develop an ability to create professional-level scores, engage in as many performance opportunities as possible, and develop a good strategy of self-promotion. Music technology is an essential part of my identity as a composer. I am fluent in and use many music software programs on daily basis, such as Logic Pro, ProTools, Audacity, Sibelius, and Max/MSP. I have composed a great number of compositions for both fixed media and instruments with live electronic music. I have been very fortunate to present my pieces in many national and international electronic music festivals and conferences. In my Electro-Acoustic Music class, I teach my students the foundations of audio engineering, signal processing, recording techniques, digital audio production, the history of electro-acoustic music, and then I lead them to analyze famous repertoires and contemporary EA pieces. I also teach them how to efficiently use a digital audio workstation and other pro audio software in their EA composition process. I designed a systematic, exciting, and motivating syllabus for Electro-Acoustic Music. In the course, the students must complete multiple lab projects in different compositional styles, such as write a piece in musique concrète style, produce a modern synthesizer piece, and compose a piece for live musician and electronic music. I encourage my students to give presentations in the public about their music. I also provide opportunities to promote student works in concerts and seminars. I am confident in my ability to prepare my students to become well-rounded musicians, responsible and respectful students, and creative and critical thinkers. I believe my approach works well. My student reviews have always been very high and students routinely enroll in multiple semesters of my classes. My students also regularly produce high quality work. I cannot describe how proud I am of so many of my students and the progress they have made while studying with me.

Research

Nowadays, musical creation is not limited to the traditional ways, but it often incorporates other forms of art, such as dancing, video, and acting to satisfy the ever-changing demands of modern society. Therefore, multi-disciplinary education has become indispensable in music education. Most composition departments in the United States provide composition students the opportunity to study computer music and to access electronic music studios. Yet, for the multi-disciplinary curricula, there are real and significant barriers and difficulties for students, because such curricula are not so well developed. As a multimedia artist (composer and video artist), I have experimented and researched how to integrate different art forms into a unified artistic outcome. During my years as an assistant professor and previously as a graduate student who researched, studied, and wrote, I directed many multimedia concerts, produced a significant number of multimedia pieces, and collaborated with many choreographers, musicians, dancers, media designers, lighting designers, and stage designers. My multimedia pieces involve live performers, electronic music, dancers, and videos. Many of my pieces have been performed around the world. Because of this, and my strong connection to acoustic, electro-acoustic music, visual art, and the interweaving of these art forms, I am well situated to develop multi-disciplinary curricula to help push music and music education into a rapidly changing and evermore technologically advanced digital society. My experiences are valuable as a music educator as they provide me the tools to help my students advance their skill sets, further their ability to think critically and collaboratively within multiple disciplines, and develop the cognitive ability to succeed in a modern society, even beyond the music world. I believe in my ability to research and develop new platforms and methods that bring artists together and create opportunities for discovery and innovation of new art forms.It is through these ideas that my teaching philosophy rests. In short, I believe in developing well-rounded students with diverse skill sets that apply to the real world and the demands of the modern, professional musician.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• He, Y. (2022). Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC). Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC).
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  One of our project photos was selected to be included in the Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC) brochure, which made publicly available in print and online.DANCING WITH THE STARSStars emerge and perish over almost unfathomable scales of time and space, yet we are all connected with even the most distant cosmic phenomena through the physics of the universe and our innate human curiosity. In a stunning blending of science and art led by University of Arizona (UA) researcher Kay He (Yuanyuan), dancers took to the stage against an immersive backdrop of astrophysical simulation to tell the story of a star from birth to death. The performance, called Stellarscape, was developed as an interdisciplinary collaboration involving faculty from the UA departments of Dance, Music, Astronomy, and School of Information, with visualization support from Devin Bayly and the computational resources of UA Research Computing. The dancers’ movements, tracked with a series of cameras and a virtual reality device, were used as inputs to render astronomical simulation snapshots in real time, creating an interactive experience. Linking the grace of human movement with the rhythms of the universe, the science-inspired multimedia work offered an inspiring new way for audiences to connect with the cosmos and their own curiosity.  

Presentations

• He, Y. (2022). Guest Presentation. MUS 195X. Zoom.
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  I was invited to give a presentation to the students of MUS 195X by Dr. Matt Mugmon.
• He, Y. (2022). Presentation at the Department of Music of the Middlebury College. The Department of Music. Middlebury College: Middlebury College.
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  I was invited to give talks at the Middlebury College Department of Music.
• He, Y. (2022, 10-11). StellarScape - Immersive Multimedia Project. NSF I-Corps. Tech Launch Arizona.
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  StellarScape was selected as one of the five startups of the NSF I-Crops Program, which exists to help jumpstart a national innovation ecosystem by teaching Lean Startup Methodology with a focus on customer discovery and the business model canvas. The program provides funding and guidance for teams to assess their technology’s commercial viability. Successful I-Corps projects are well-positioned to receive future NSF grants designed for slightly more mature technologies, including SBIR and STTR grants.In participating in the site-level program, each team – consisting of an academic lead, an entrepreneurial lead and a principal investigator – becomes eligible to receive a grant of up to $3,000 to assist with customer discovery.
• He, Y. (2022, 11). Presentation at Longy School of Music.. Longy School of Music. Boston: Longy School of Music.
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  I was invited to give talks at Longy School of Music.
• He, Y., Impey, C., & Burleson, W. (2022). StellarScape - Panel Presentation. SXSW. Austin TX: UA CFA.

Reviews

• He, Y. (2022. CFA FACULTY AWARDED RII PRODUCTION SEED GRANTS. online.
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  Yuanyuan (Kay) HeAssistant ProfessorFred Fox School of MusicArizona bio | Personal websiteStellarScapeStellarScape is an immersive multimedia performance synthesizing music, science, visual art, and technology. An unprecedented combination of music, dance, and cinematography, blended with state-of-the-art data visualization and astrophysical simulation. The theme is astronomical, but the vision is humanistic. It is the story of a massive star, from its birth to its death, echoing a primordial theme of darkness and light. ​StellarScape is a collaboration at the University of Arizona between the Fred Fox School of Music, Astronomy, School of Dance, School of Information, and UArizona Research Technologies. This convergence collaboration is catalyzed by a powerful union of concepts at the confluence of astronomy, humanity, and socio-technical experience advanced by Professor Yuanyuan (Kay) He (Principle Investigator, Fred Fox School of Music), co-principle investigators Chris Impey (Astronomy) and Winslow Burleson (School of Information), in collaboration with Devin Bayly (University Research Technologies),  Gustavo Almeida (Closed Loop Sensor Lab, HS/Bio5), and Hayley Meier (School of Dance), and with internationally renowned visual artist Georgios Cherouvim (ch3 studio, Greece).
• He, Y. (2022. STELLARSCAPE TELLS AN IMMERSIVE, MULTIMEDIA STORY OF A STAR. Online.
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  StellarScape tells the story of a massive star, the piece is an unprecedented combination of music, dance, and cinematography, blended with state-of-the-art data visualization and astrophysical simulation. The video made its world premiere at the Arizona Wonder House at SXSW 2022 on March 13.The theme is astronomical, but the vision is humanistic. It shows that computers can be harnessed to create complex and evocative music, and technology can be deployed to display the grace of human movement and dance. A goal for the project is to draw new audiences to a modern, science inspired multimedia work.StellarScape was produced by University of Arizona Professors Dr. Yuanyuan (Kay) He, director and composer, from the Fred Fox School of Music; Dr. Chris Impey, deputy head of the department of astronomy; and Dr. Winslow Burleson, expert in human computer interaction from the School of Information. They collaborated with School of Dance alumna and current Professor of Practice Hayley Meier, Devin Bayly (Research Technology Department) Gustavo Almeida (Closed Loop Sensor Lab, HS/Bio5 with international renowned guest visual artists Georgios Cherouvim (ch3 studio, Greece). 
• He, Y. (2022. Tapping into technology to improve health care research. Online.
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  Contributing to robust solutionsOne of the Sensor Lab's most advanced collaborations is with Yuanyuan Kay He, assistant professor in the Fred Fox School of Music at the UArizona College of Fine Arts. He composed "StellarScape," a combination of music, dance and cinematography blended with data visualization and astrophysical simulation. The aesthetically focused project yielded applications that will advance research as well.Yuanyuan “Kay” He, (left) an assistant professor at the UArizona Fred Fox School of Music, collaborated with the Sensor Lab for more than a year to help bring "StellarScape" to life using wearable sensors fitted to dancers including Hayley Meier (right). "After the first nine months, we looked back and said, ‘Look how elementary we were, and look what we can do now," He said.Kris Hanning/University of Arizona Health SciencesA wearable wrist sensor tracks the movements of a dancer, which also are captured through a camera mounted to the ceiling. Using data from the sensors in real time, particles that appear to move in sync with the dancer's motions are displayed on a large video screen behind the dancer."'StellarScape' is a project that really challenged us," Almeida said. "We had to push our limits because the speed of a dancer's movements, their rotation and their stamina are far different than that of someone walking across a room or being on a stationary treadmill. We now have more robust solutions for how to track movements of an elderly person, for instance."Barton said there has been a great need to harness advances in sensor technology for research. With the opening of the Sensor Lab, researchers now have the resources and support needed to address myriad health care issues, from stress to frailty and falls, and to develop sensor-based solutions to improve health and well-being.

Creative Productions

• He, Y. (2022. Breath of the Soul - for 8 sopranos and a synthesizer.
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  This composition is designed to perform in the South Lung at Biosphere 2.
• He, Y. (2022. Blue Rainbow for alto/soprano saxophone and piano
  commissioned by Joshua Thomas of Smart Repertoire ConsortiumSmart Repertoire Consortium.
• He, Y. (2022. BreathScape - for solo clarinet, dance, and interactive video.
  More info

  This composition is designed to perform in the South Lung at Biosphere 2.
• He, Y. (2022. Children of the Stars - audiovisual work. https://vimeo.com/709238787
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  This piece is collaboration with Greek visual artist Georgios Cherouvim.
• He, Y. (2022. StellarScape Immersive Video (surround)Production Grant.
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  I led the StellarScape team produced a surroundscape video for UA Wonder House at SXSW Austin TX.
• He, Y. (2022. The Rain Song for bariton voice and double bass.
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  Commission by Philip Alejo to write a multimedia work that features the borderland culture and landscape of the Sonoran Desert.
• He, Y. (2022. Three Seascapes - commissioned by Lin-Linder DuoLin-Linder Duo.
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  in memory of my grandfatherThree Seascapesthe sound and smell of the ocean Three Seascapes for piano duet is commissioned by Lin-Linder Piano Duo. It was inspired by my grandfather’s paintings. He passed away in 2015 winter. I remember one of the happiest memories in my childhood was when he was showing me his paintings, telling me where he found the inspiration and the stories behind the paint and the canvas. His specialty was seascapes. Ocean waves are ever-changing. Sometimes, the ocean is calm and serene. Sometimes, it’s angry and aggressive. Sometimes light and happy, sometimes sad and sorrowful. My Grandpa used his brushes to freeze the motions and moods of the ocean. In his seascapes, the ocean becomes a living being and full of emotions. 6’39” Yuanyuan (Kay) He 

Creative Performances

• He, Y. (2022. Breath of the Soul - for 8 sopranos and a synthesizer (world premiere). BreathScape at Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2: UA Sensor Lab. http://www.stellarscape.org/breathscape.html
  More info

  This composition is designed to perform in the South Lung at Biosphere 2. 
• He, Y. (2022. Among the Stars - large interactive installation. Total Lunar Eclipse 2022 at Flandrau. Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium. https://flandrau.org/content/total-lunar-eclipse-2022
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  StellarScape - A breathtaking interactive multimedia experience! Thermal cameras and computer simulations that treat particles as a fluid will create streams and showers of stars. Your motion will give you the power to interact with the stars.To learn more about the StellarScape, visit at www.stellarscape.org
• He, Y. (2022. Birth from StellarScape. Ammerman Center Symposium. Connecticut College: The Ammerman Center 2022 Biennial Symposium on Arts and Technology. https://conncoll.edu/academics/majors-departments-programs/majors-and-minors/ammerman-center-for-arts-and-technology/symposium-2022/
  More info

  Here is an exerpt from the performance. https://arizona.box.com/s/9hmouc9g6vw2wocvlg2ry68bm1z2d8fh
• He, Y. (2022. BreathScape - for solo clarinet, dance, and interactive video. BreathScape at Biosphere 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WePrrJIh0GA
  More info

  This composition is designed to perform in the South Lung at Biosphere 2.
• He, Y. (2022. BreathScape at Biosphere 2 - Celebrating Mother's Day 2022. BreathScape at Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2 South Lung, Oracle, AZ, USA: UA Sensor Lab. http://www.stellarscape.org/breathscape.html
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  A live and immersive performance including music, dance, and video projection. BreathScape is a spin-off from the StellarScape project, which explores the human connection to the universe through cycles of star birth and death. In BreathScape, the connection is between our breathing and the breathing of the living planet. The performance is in the Biosphere 2 "lung." This special semi-underground facility regulates air pressure in the glass enclosure and allows Biosphere 2 to "breathe" in response to the daily and seasonal temperature variations. Just as mothers gave us our first breath, the breathing of Mother Earth sustains and nurtures us. Join us in celebrating mothers, the union of science and the arts, and the University of Arizona's unique research facility at Biosphere 2.
• He, Y. (2022. Children of the Stars - audiovisual work. BreathScape at Biosphere 2UA Sensor Lab. https://vimeo.com/709238787
  More info

  This piece is collaboration with Greek visual artist Georgios Cherouvim.
• He, Y. (2022. Children of the Stars. Electronic Music Midwest. Chicago, IL, USA: Electronic Music Midwest Festival. https://www.emmfestival.org/archives_data/spring2022/2022_EMMprogram.pdf
• He, Y. (2022. Morning from Sonoran SoundScape. Annual Multimedia Concert. Western Michigan University.
• He, Y. (2022. StellarScape - Premiere. StellarScape - Live Premiere. Crowder Hall. https://arts.arizona.edu/events/stellarscape/
  More info

  https://music.arizona.edu/events/stellarscape-immersive-multimedia-performance/https://arts.arizona.edu/events/stellarscape/
• He, Y. (2022. StellarScape - performance and sensor demonstration. Sensor Lab Grand Opening. UA Sensor Lab, Tucson, USA: UA Sensor Lab. https://healthsciences.arizona.edu/newsroom/news-releases/2022/sensor-lab-seed-grants-advance-innovative-research
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  Yuanyuan “Kay” He, PhD, assistant professor in the UArizona College of Fine Arts, composed StellarScape, an immersive multimedia show that includes live musicians, electronic music and dancers collaborating with interactive cinematography, fusing kinesthetic and acoustic sensing with cosmic simulation in real time. In collaboration with the Sensor Lab, Stellarscape seeks to deliver the performance to a variety of audiences with advanced interactive sensor technologies.
• He, Y. (2022. StellarScape Immersive Video. UA Wonder House at SXSW in Austin TX. Austin TX: UA CFA. https://sxsw.arizona.edu/stellarscape
• He, Y. (2022. The Rain Song - world premiere. Rain Song: Musical Performance for the Sonoran Desert. Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ, USA. https://www.desertmuseumarts.com/rain-song
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  Rain Song: Musical Performance for the Sonoran Deserthttps://www.desertmuseumarts.com/rain-songDesert Landscape - Philip AlejoCommission by Philip Alejo to write a multimedia work that features the borderland culture and landscape of the Sonoran Desert.
• He, Y., Burleson, W., Impey, C., Meier, H., & Bayly, D. (2022. StellarScape - Immersive Multimedia Performance. Public Dress Rehearsal. Crowder Hall. http://www.stellarscape.org

Other Teaching Materials

• He, Y. (2022. FAA 436 Collaboration between Designers and Grad Composers. UA College of Fine Arts.
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  The course (FAA 436 Prof. Cynthia Stokes) has taken a new direction this fall incorporating live, digital and immersive experiences that our students created. Two of the projects were created in collaboration with Professor Matt Marcus' advanced sound design class and our final presentation includes collaborations with graduate composers under Dr. Kay He's direction.

Others

• He, Y. (2022, 10). Imagining America National Gathering. https://imaginingamerica.org/who-we-are/we-envision/
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  I was selected to represent the University of Arizona at Imagining America National Gathering in New Orleans. The Imagining America consortium (IA) brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and campus change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues. By dreaming and building together in public, IA creates the conditions to shift culture and transform inequitable institutional and societal structures.
• He, Y. (2022, 11). Judging Sessions of Electronic Music Midwest (EMM). https://www.emmfestival.org
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  As the creative director of the festival, I was invited to be on the judging panel of EMM 2023.About EMMElectronic Music Midwest [EMM] is dedicated to programming of a wide variety of electroacoustic music and providing the highest quality performance of electronic media. This annual festival consists of approximately nine short concerts (about 1 hour in length) over the course of a weekend in Autumn. Our goal is to bring together vibrant and interesting artists of all forms, give them a vehicle for their expressions, and a place for them to share ideas with others. EMM is the result of a consortium formed in 2002 between Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC), Lewis University, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Officially formed in 2002, this festival was founded by Mike McFerron, Connie Mayfield, and Paul Rudy in 2000 when it was presented at KCKCC under the name "Kansas City Electronic Music Festival." In 2001, the festival continued at Lewis University under the title, "Electronic Music at Lewis - 2001." EMM originally featured an 8-channel surround diffusion system, and now features a 12-channel immersive system, under the guidance of Ian Corbett. The core of the system are Yamaha powered speakers and subwoofers, and a Digico S21 mixer (named "EMMilia"). Many visiting composers comment that EMM is one of the best sounding and smoothest run festivals they have ever attended.Since its beginning, EMM has programmed over 1000 new electroacoustic compositions. Composers have traveled from around the world to graciously share their music with audiences in the Midwest. However, EMM is about more than just playing new music. We strive to create an environment conducive to building community interaction. Most concerts are approximately one hour long, and composers have plenty of time to "talk shop" with each other as well as interact socially with students and audience members.
• He, Y. (2022, 11). Visit MIT Media Lab with Peter Torpey.
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  I was invited to visit and tour MIT Media Lab with CFA Live and Immersive Art Director Peter Torpey. 

Creative Works

• Pale Blue Dot; Piano Solo; KHE Music Publishing; October 2020; PALE BLUE DOT was commissioned by Jani Parsons, pianist of Latitude 49.This short piano bagatelle is inspired by Carl Sagan’s famous quote:To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us.Yes, the earth is home for us, all of us. We are all the children of mother earth. We are all equally precious!
• BOKEH; Chamber Ensemble; KHE Music Publishing; May 2020; In photography, bokeh (BOH-kay) is the aesthetic quality of the lens-produced blur created in the out-of-focus parts of an image. Bokeh draws our focus to the important subject of the image, which is surrounded by a soft and blurry background.BOKEH was commissioned by Rochester NY-based quintet fivebyfive. The piece is inspired by the photographs of American photographer James Welling. James Welling’s work related to layering many different photos, and these “stopped time” photos provided the idea for the dramatic opening to my composition. The flute leads the uncontrollably falling gesture, which passes through each instrument and suddenly stops on the double bass and piano sustained notes. Just like the moment when a photo is taken, a special moment is captured for eternity – time has stopped and memory frozen.Each time we come across the photo, we experience the moment again and again. Photography becomes a way of feeling, touching, and loving. After the dramatic opening, I used woodwind air sounds (mysterious timbres) gradually changing to regular playing (solid sounds) to mimic the brief process time that our mind escapes from reality to the memory.Sometimes instruments emerge as solo/duet melodies, while the rest of the instruments are providing a blurry background. This is the Bokeh effect in photography. Just like in memories, some are here, some far away, some blurry, and some clear.
• Painting with Light; Light Painting Photography; Kaymeleon Studio; July 2020; I created a specially designed light tube that she uses like a paintbrush to produce evocative, aesthetically engaging light paintings within photographs.Light painting photography is a genre of long-exposure, or slow-shutter, photography. During the process, we use a long-duration shutter speed to capture the movement or trail of light without blurring the character and other subjects in the photo. As is often the case in performing arts, many factors have to be aligned at exactly the right time to create a good light painting photograph. The process and practice of how to create magic is a new and amazing experience to me. The final photograph is like a rewarding time capsule that freezes a moment in time. I became interested in this art form only recently, looking for ways that performing artists can continue producing art under the restraints of the COVID-19 quarantine situation. I have been doing a lot of research on how to incorporate visual aspects into my musical research.
• StellarScape; Multimedia; KHE Music Publishing; January 2022; Multiple Performances, Community Events, and Conference Presentations, & Live Performance at Crowder Hall; StellarScape is a 60 mins long multimedia work synthesizing music, science, visual art, and technology.
• Sonoran Surroundscape; Fixed Media; KHE Music Publishing; February 2020; I was collaborating with the University of Arizona CAPLA on the “Sonoran Surroundscape” project. It was selected to be presented on SXSW in Austin, Texas, to represent the University. It is an immersive project in which participants are immersed in abstract color forms inspired by the Mt. Lemmon landscape. I was selected as a collaborator for this project to compose 18 mins soundscape for the color study animations. To provide a corresponding auditory experience will showcase gentle sounds that correlate with the project.