Composer and OM alum Kui Dong (OM 3) was introduced to improvisation by two of her colleagues at Dartmouth: electro-acoustic wizard and former Mills professor Larry Polansky, and experimental icon Christian Wolff (OM 6). On HANDS LIKE WAVES UNFOLD, the forthcoming release on the Other Minds label, Kui Dong takes the piano preparations from John Cage’s SONATAS AND INTERLUDES as a point of departure for her improvisations.
 
Approaching the prepared piano with a spirit of exploration both ecstatic and incisive, Kui Dong has constructed an album that, in her words, “tells a story of self-discovery among the intimacy of sounds–a journey of self enlightenment through conflict and tranquility.” Christian Wolff explains that “in the directness of the improvising she, so to speak, wears her compositional heart on her sleeve.” 

An interview with Kui Dong.