Upcoming Concert I’m performing

May 24, 2009 by George Shaw.

I’ve spent this past week preparing for a really exciting concert. We had rehearsals, worked out schedules and program notes, and even shot and edited a commercial for a Chinese TV station in only a day. I’ve never put so much work into preparing and putting on a concert, but it will be totally worth it, as it’s going to be an awesome event. This unique concert is happening in only two weeks on Saturday, June 8th, and I still have to do a press conference this week along with practicing all the music I’ll be playing.

It will be a great opportunity to see me play a collection of unusual instruments, including Chinese wind instruments (Bawu and Hulu),

various Chinese percussion,

as well as piano. We’ll be playing original works composed by myself and my friend Paul Kwo (who will also be playing piano and some percussion), in addition to some improvisations of music that has yet to be created. We also have some fantastic performers lined up who will be playing Erhu (the Chinese fiddle), Flute/Dizi (Chinese flute), Violin, and Cello.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, it’s a concert you won’t want to miss.

Come experience a journey to the Eastern Horizon, an evening of musical explorations and discoveries. With contemporary pieces written by award-winning composers George Shaw and Paul Kwo, the ensemble will lead you to an enchanting horizon where the East meets the West. Fusing the best of both worlds with instruments and sounds.

Date: Saturday, June 6, 8PM
Location: California Institute for Chinese Performing Arts
Address: 9837 Baldwin Place, El Monte, CA 91731

Info/tickets:
www.cicpa-us.org/events.html

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This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday

April 23, 2009 by George Shaw.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is approaching, and I’m really excited about a film that I worked that’s screening in this year’s festival, This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday. It’s a beautiful and poetic short film that is already getting into major festivals (It’s screening this next week at Tribeca Film Festival in NY).

You can catch the LA screening on Friday, May 1st, 7:30pm, @ the Director’s Guild of America.
For more info/tickets:
http://www.vconline.org/festival/program.cfm?program_id=3

Also Wesley Chan (One of the Wong-Fu guys that I’ve worked with) has a film on the program.

And as a bonus, check out this concert video, featuring a live performance of some music that I wrote for PURITY, which premiered at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival 3 years ago!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiPK_CI59V

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J-ok’el Concert Video

March 7, 2009 by George Shaw.

I’m really excited to share this video from the world premiere of my concert suite from J-ok’el. Getting to stand up in front of a real orchestra and conduct my own music in a live concert was something I dreamed of doing since I was a teenager, and it finally happened! It took a long time to get the video edited together, but it was worth the wait. It features footage from the dress rehearsal and the performance.

Also, this was the Golden State Pops Halloween Concert, so the orchestra got to dress up in costumes. See if you can spot Fred Flinstone, Mario, and a Giant Banana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrkcnsDoCZU

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Up In Da Club from Wong Fu Productions

February 15, 2009 by George Shaw.

Check out Wong Fu Productions hilarious new short about the going clubbing. It’s a 4 part series, and I wrote some music for parts 3 and 4. I personally hate going to clubs, why does the music have to be so loud, and I can never hear what anybody is trying to say to me. I once went to a club in Hollywood for a friend’s birthday, and even though I was wearing ear plugs, my hearing was damaged and my ears were ringing the next day. So I really related to this film, and was cracking up when I first sat down and watched it with Philip Wang, the director.

Part 1:
http://vimeo.com/3031932

Part 2:
http://vimeo.com/3027632

Part 3:
http://vimeo.com/3103916

Part 4:
http://vimeo.com/3197640

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Legendary Warriors Review on AllAboutJazz.com

February 4, 2009 by George Shaw.

Here’s a cool review about my album, Legendary Warriors.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=31768

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Images of China

December 2, 2008 by George Shaw.

I just posted a video documenting my trip to China back in March. I’ve included breathtaking views, a slice of modern life, and some things I just thought were amusing.

For the soundtrack, I used music from my Legendary Warriors album. It fits so well, it’s almost as if I had written the music to those images. The CD also makes a perfect gift for the holidays, so I’ve lowered the price for the CD’s by $3.
To purchase the CD: http://cdbaby.com/cd/georgeshaw3

I recommend clicking the link below, and watching the video in high quality:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5aUXgZl-Vw

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George on MTV

November 13, 2008 by George Shaw.

Who says classical musicians can’t ROCK? I always wondered what it would be like to rock out on stage in a rock band, and I finally did, and it was a thrill.

And this Saturday, you can watch my brief moment of rock stardom when my band, MOZART’S BIATCH, performs onstage in MTV’s “Rock Band Battle,” on Saturday, Nov. 15th. The show runs 1 hour and airs at 1pm and again at 10pm.

Also check out our myspace page, where you can hear an original Mozart’s Biatch theme song that I co-wrote with our singer, Joyce Lee.
http://www.myspace.com/mozartsbiatch

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Adrenaline Rush: Performing for Several Hundred

October 27, 2008 by George Shaw.

This weekend I conducted the world premiere of my concert suite J-ok’el: Legend of La Llorona with the Golden State Pops Orchestra. It was a thrilling, gratifying, and tiring day.

I was a little bit jittery going on stage, but rather than being nervous, it was mostly from the excitement and energy of being in front of a live audience of several hundred. After accepting the applause and giving a brief intro to my music, I stood in front of the 60 or so musicians on stage and could just feel the electricity in the air. Once I brought my baton down for the first note, it all melted away and I simply had fun bringing my music to life for an attentive audience. The orchestra’s performance was superb, they followed my every move, and the only real flaw in the performance was when I accidentally whacked the music stand with my baton. One my friends in the audience mentioned to me afterwards how loud that was….oops.

The orchestra in costume for the Halloween themed concert. Can you spot the banana?

Afterwards, I was busy meeting people who had so many wonderful compliments for me, and signing CDs. One guy, Bill Wrobel, who runs a website called filmscorerundowns.net, emailed me the next day to tell me that my music was “one of the surprise highlights of the concert.”

I realized that I don’t get to connect with live audiences and meet new fans in person much. Most of my work is done at home in the studio, so I’m hoping for more opportunities in the near future to conduct and present my work to the public.

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Also, check out some of these recent interviews that I did:Scoring in Hollywood (Oct. 3, 2008)
http://edmoy.blogspot.com/2008/10/scoring-in-hollywood.html

Interview on Wake UP! Explore your Passion (Oct. 8, 2008 - live podcast) - Interview about how I overcame obstacles and became a film composer (and do what I love in life).
http://ryanray.com/blog/?p=217

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Conducting the Golden State Pops

October 7, 2008 by George Shaw.

Here’s some more info about my upcoming concert with the Golden State Pops Orchestra. I’ll be conducting the world premiere of J-OK’EL: LEGEND OF LA LLORONA, a concert suite from the film that I scored.

The Halloween themed program will also include:

Hans Salter & Paul Dessau: House of Frankenstein, Suite
Frank Skinner: Abott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Main Title
Max Steiner: King Kong, Suite
Bernard Herrmann: Mysterious Island, Suite
Bernard Herrmann: On Dangerous Ground, Death Hunt
Irving Gertz: Deadly Mantis
Joseph LoDuca: The Messengers, Main Titles
Danny Elfman: Nightmare before Christmas, Suite
Steven Fox: Unleashed
Jerry Goldsmith: Twilight Zone, Suite
Henry Mancini/Hans Salter/Herman Stein: Creature From the Black Lagoon, Suite

The concert is on Sat. Oct 25 @ 8:00 PM
Venue: Warner Grand Theatre
Address: 478 West 6th St., San Pedro, CA, 90731
Tickets/Info:
http://gspo.com/concert.asp?nav=Schedule&cID=53

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Wish I was in Hawaii

September 21, 2008 by George Shaw.

I just found out that the film I just finished mixing yesterday, is set to play at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Holy crap I wish I could to Hawaii to surf and
watch films. I just don’t have any money to make it there.

The film is This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday, directed by Long Phan. And it looks like the shorts program that it’s playing on is pretty awesome. Julia Kwan has a film playing, as well as J.P. Chan, someone who’s work I’ve seen before at a festival a couple years ago.

It’s playing on Sunday, Oct. 12 @ 8:45pm (Shorts Program 4)
http://www.hiff.org/

A scene from the film:
http://vimeo.com/1763935

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