Darkroom Processing: 吃飯了嗎?/밥 먹었니? is an original composition premiere. The work is a self-created silent film that is played alongside original music, heavily utilizing improvisation, to tell our story. We focus on scenes of New York City and friends in our circle simply being themselves and enjoying life. The phrases in Mandarin and Korean (which translate to “have you eaten yet?” in English) are customary greetings that signify care for another person which forms the heart of our performance. Our endless gratitude to (in order of appearance): Can (Tsan), Nikki, Kalun, Kalia, Yuma, Joy, Hillary, Adrienne, Matthew, Bao, Zack, Thomas, and Sarah. Performance recording at the Margaret Greenham Theatre at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Thank you to Hugh Conacher for lighting design, and thank you to the hardworking staff at the Banff Centre for all their help as well as the mentors of the "Evolution: Classical" program.

Violinist Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and pianist Joey Chang have known each other since their undergraduate days at The Juilliard School, but it wasn’t until 2019 that they connected on their current passion—free improvisation. Chang had gotten into improvisation much earlier than Lim, but when Lim started to become intrigued by improvisation, the two musicians began to jam together. From those low-key sessions, their duo, Impromptuo, was born. For the House Music series, they present an improvisation titled Some Etude. Both musicians have collaborated with Metropolis in the past, and each have presented a solo House Music series video. But as a duo, they share one special memory of Metropolis: In October 2020, they presented a series of improvisations alongside animations by the artist Marie Lavis as part of Free Assembly, Metropolis’s debut digital festival. Since that performance, they’ve continued to explore the possibilities of musical improvisation and animation, and even continued working with Lavis. Some Etude, which they recorded at Chang’s apartment, taps into the duo’s humorous side. They don’t take themselves too seriously in general, they’d rather make music that’s lighthearted and exploratory. Some Etude was born from ideas they’d been floating around for a while, and even takes some inspiration from a Lady Gaga-type bass line. And in addition to their House Music performance, the two are excited to begin working on improvisation with multi-instrumentalist and MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey as part of the Ensemble Forward program at Chamber Music America. -- Vanessa Ague

From a live-streamed performance on groupmuse on January 30th, 2021. Pauline Oliveros (1932 - 2016) "Magnetic Trails for Violin and Piano I. East (2:49) II. South (6:12) III. West (9:50) IV. North (14:00) Performed by Impromptuo Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim, violin Joey Chang, piano

Commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble for Free Assembly 2020 Animations by Marie Lavis Music by Impromptuo (Joey Chang & Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim

Lera Auerbach (b. 1973) Selections from 24 Preludes for Violin and Piano, Op. 46 No. 1 No. 9 No. 10 No. 11 (Short improvisation transition) No. 15 No. 24 Performed by Impromptuo (Joey Chang & Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim) in September 2020

Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928) Violin Sonata I. Con Moto II. Ballada III. Allegretto IV. Adagio Performed by Impromptuo (Joey Chang & Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim) in May 2019

Commissioned by Fifth Wall Performing Arts for Fluxus Fest 2020 Composed, filmed, and edited by Impromptuo (Joey Chang & Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" (Twinkle Variations) Arranged for violin and piano and performed by Impromptuo (Joey Chang & Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim)