kangyimusic

“Arab Spring and Occupy” commemorates the widespread protests which shook the Arab nations and the subsequent
Occupy movement around the world in 2011. The piece begins by remembering Bouazizi, a street vendor whose self
immolation sparked the Tunisian revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring. Similarly, short fragmentary music ideas can
lead to substantial melodic material. Next, the arrival of the police and ambulance is depicted by sirens and honks from both
instruments. “Confrontation with the Police” depicts the struggle between the police and the protesters via intrusive gestures
from the flute and bassoon. Flute flutter tongue and bassoon multiphonics are employed to symbolize the protestors in pain.
This culminates in a moaning crow sound from the bassoon. “Shoot-to-Kill” remembers the protesters who suffered after
Bashar al-Assad ordered the Syrian Armed Forces to crackdown brutally. The bassoon ends this section by imitating the
sounds of firing in the distance.

“We are the 99%!” starts the Occupy Wall Street section and the audience is encouraged to shout at the third entrance.
Next, protesters encounter tear gas, as depicted by air sounds from the instruments. “Eviction” recounts
Occupy London protestors who were forcefully evicted from St. Paul’s Cathedral after more than four months. Imagine the
police in riot gear forming a line and moving in synchrony to push back the protesters. Police brutality on an Iraq war veteran
at Occupy Oakland was also widely publicized. At Occupy Washington D.C. protestors at McPherson Square erected a 25-
feet tall structure, which subsequently led to their arrests and the flattening of the structure. During the arrests, a crowd of
people shouted at the police ‘Shame on you!’. The audience should shout at the third entrance. This piece ends with a
lament on the deaths and suffering the protesters have endured.