Enjoy the exciting world of contemporary music
with lively performances by the Clexical Ambassadors!
"Chaconne" by Sofia Gubaidulina was composed in 1962, performed by Olivia Larco on June 14, 2024
"Serenade, Op. 12 for Two Violins and Viola" by Zoltán Kodály was composed in 1919-20, performed by the Laurentia Woo, Hana Tsai and Edward Lee on June 15, 2024
"Lamentatio" by Giovanni Sollima was composed in 1998, performed by Casey Kim on October 2024
"Valencia" by Caroline Shaw, composed in 2012, was performed at the Perlman Music Program on July 31, 2021. The performance featured Laurentia Woo, Ayaan Ahmad, Janice Leung, and Sean Yu
"Declamato movement from Cello Suite No. 2, Op. 80" by Benjamin Britten was composed in 1967, performed by Casey Kim on October 2023
"Dig the Say" by Vijay Iyer was composed in 2012 as part of his album Accelerando, performed on August 2024
"Life of a Fire" by Asha Melvani, composed in 2024, was performed at the Juilliard School on April 13, 2024. The performance featured Queenie Dai, Hana Tsai, Phoebe Qian and Tamara Nishnianidze
Quartet No. 1 "Calvary" by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson Britten was composed in 1956, performed on August 2023
Shin KIM : "HOLO"(2019/2020) for Violin Solo World Premiere performed by violinist Jinan Laurentia Woo for the Menuhin Competition 2021 in Richmond, United States.
Jessica KRASH : "The Imagined Wisdom of Bella Pavis"(2022) for Violin Solo World Premiere performed by violinist Laurentia Jinan Woo for the 2022 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players
About us
Founder
Jinan Laurentia Woo
Teen violinist Jinan Laurentia Woo, a student at Juilliard Pre-College and Columbia Prep, founded Clexical, a nonprofit to promote contemporary classical music. At 12, she commissioned Holo (2020) from Korean composer Shin Kim for the Menuhin Competition, honoring her Korean heritage. She later won Best Performance of a Commissioned Work at the 2022 Johansen Competition for her rendition of Jessica Krash's The Wisdom of Bella Pavis.
From those insightful experiences, Laurentia realized that firstly, finding contemporary works written after 1960-which is becoming required at more competitions nowadays-was more challenging than finding works from other periods of classical music. This is because emerging classical works are not broadly publicized and as accessible to those without the knowledge to obtain it. Secondly, communicating with the composer of the work you were working on was an invaluable education in understanding the greater meaning of the piece and its role in shaping the scene of contemporary classical music. This inspired her to create Clexical to provide a platform to introduce new works along with commentary and insight from interviews with composers.
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Laurentia’s love for contemporary music extends to a diverse range of composers, from Arvo Pärt and George Crumb to living creators like Caroline Shaw and Jessie Montgomery. Most recently, she co-founded the Juilliard Pre-College New Music Ensemble with David Fulmer, aiming to further engage her community with innovative classical music.