ICMC BOSTON 2025

Online Listening Room

Curiosity, Play, Innovation - A 50th Anniversary Celebration of Creativity in Music, Science, and Technology

June 8-14, 2025

ICMC BOSTON 2025: Online Listening Room #5

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ID#: 416

Illness² (2021) ; 9:00

by Lily Chen

Taipei National University of the Arts

“Illness²” is inspired by “hypochondriasis” and “excessive dreaming,” two syndromes caused by over-perception due to neurological disorder. Through distorted electronics and the ambisonic system, this piece builds up the scenarios of “hypochondria” and “dreaminess,” hoping to offer the audience a more direct and intense listening experience in the immersive space and to lead them into the inner world of the sufferers by associating their own feelings with the music. Illness² is specifically composed and designed for the 49.4-channel immersive stereo space at C-LAB Taiwan Sound Lab.

Lily Chen

Lily Chen, born in Taiwan, is a composer exploring sonic and theatrical potentials in both acoustic and electronic music. Her music shapes evocative atmospheres that point towards subtle poetic commentary on her observations about literary, emotional, or social aspects of the contemporary situation. Lily’s music has been performed at several international festivals, including Underwood New Music Readings, Mise-en Festival, International Computer Music Conference, SEAMUS National Conference, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and Asian Composers League Conference and Festival. She has collaborated with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic, Ensemble Signal, Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Cairn, E-MEX Ensemble, among others. She received her Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California at Berkeley, where she studied with Ken Ueno, Edmund Campion, Franck Bedrossian, and Cindy Cox. Currently she is an Assistant Professor of composition at Taipei National University of the Arts.

chenlily.com