Fly II

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Description +
- Fly II, is a piece for Handpan and Percussion Sextet and written for Li Biao and Libiao Percussion Group.
Instrumentation +
- Required Instruments
  
  Player 1: Handpan in D minor
  Player 2: Glockenspiel
  Player 3: Vibraphone
  Player 4: Marimba 1
  Player 5: Marimba 2
  Player 6: Cajon (or Djembe)
  Player 7: Percussion setup: 1 Bass Drum, 2 Tom-toms, 2 Suspended Cymbals (crash and ride)
About the composer +
- Heng LIU is the principal percussion of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra, executive director of China Percussion Association, artist of MEINL Percussion, MEINL Cymbals, Innovative Percussion, Marimba One, and Remo.
  
  Liu studied percussion from childhood with his father Yaguang LIU, professor of percussion at Xi 'an Conservatory of Music. In 2005, Liu was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music. He studied with professor Gang LIU and professor Biao LI successively and obtained bachelor's and master's degrees. By the time he was 18, Liu had won the first prize in the National Youth Percussion Competition. Liu was a percussion jury of the Italian International Percussion Competition, where he also held master classes and special concerts. He also judges the annual International Network Percussion Competition and National Youth Percussion Competition.
  
  Between 2017 to 2019, Liu embarked on his improvisation and interactive percussion concert "Give me one hour" tour. The tour hit many major Chinese cities including Tianqiao Art Center in Beijing, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Xi 'An concert hall, Shijiazhuang Center for the Performing Arts, etc. Liu performed entirely improvised sets based on interaction with the audience, bringing concertgoers a brand new musical experience. 
  
  So far, Liu has published two albums: Percussion Visionary --Heng LIU Percussion Concert and DRUMS, an original album released by "Hei Chao" Duo with renowned drummer Yanchao LI. He also writes a personal column Heng LIU Said in music weekly.
  
   As a percussionist, Liu has traveled to various music festivals around the world. These include: Italian International Percussion Competition and Festival, Greek International Percussion Competition and Festival, NCPA International Percussion Festival, Beijing International Electronic Music Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Jazz Shanghai Music Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, MIDI Festival and so on.
  
  In the meanwhile, Liu has created more than 30 works, including percussion ensemble piece "The General", "Memory", "Face2Face", percussion and electronic music "Delay", "Percumotion", percussion solo "Rain the Blind Monk", "Wild LEO ", "Poem" and many more. In 2016, his Chinese Traditional Percussion solo piece "Gazing on Mountain TAI" won the 1st prize of China Traditional Music Festival - CCOM ethnic Percussion works collection competition.
  
  In 2019, Heng LIU won "Best Work Awards" and "Best All-round Percussionist" of 2019 Drummmer's Ceremony.
Reviews +
- Review (Percussive Notes, June 2024)
  
  Handpans started to gain in popularity in the early 2000s, picking up steam among enthusiasts and making their way into traditional musical scenes slowly through the help of contemporary composers. Heng Liu composes exciting and accessible works for percussion ensemble, this time featuring a D-minor handpan as the solo instrument. “Fly II” is a quick, fun, and whimsical chamber concerto that dances along in a throughcomposed style that hits on various grooves to help propel the piece forward. Soaring metallic melodies and scalar passages — in both the keyboard instruments as well as the featured solo part — help to drive the main thematic moments of the piece and create memorable, singable lines that connect the work from top to bottom.
  
  “Fly II” sticks to a relatively simple instrumentation for a percussion sextet: two marimbas, two metals, and two groove instruments. Both the cajon and multi-percussion setup function frequently as drumset players, simply outlining a groove underneath the melodic instruments while also implementing fills and solo ideas. All four keyboard parts feature extensive sixteenth-note runs and arpeggiations, but only the glockenspiel part could be played with two mallets; the other parts require four throughout most of the piece. The only true instrumental difficulty is acquiring a handpan with the correct pitches needed, but the composer provides some options for 15- and 9-note models to help facilitate more options for performances.
  
  The handpan’s lasting legacy may yet be decided, with the instrument still fresh in the percussion landscape; however, pieces like “Fly II” that highlight the instrument help to place the handpan in a more serious light (similar to works like “Passageways” by Baljinder Sekhon that help validate the steel pan in the concert realm). Despite the novelty of the handpan, Heng Liu composes a sincere and enjoyable work for percussion ensemble that soars for just over five minutes of excitement and fun.
  
  —Matthew Geiger

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