Concert is cancelled in Hong Kong, two weeks before the performance, almost two months after paying for the air ticket. It is perfectly fine if a concert has to be cancelled due to varies reasons (better be real good reasons), but the fact that the director did not intend to inform me about the cancellation, until I happened to ask him about the concert, on Facebook. Seriously, this is not even a professional vs. amateur issue; this is about responsibility. Should I have signed a contract before I decided to attend the performance? I guess a paper is more trust-able than a person, which is sad. This person calls himself a professional musician and a teacher, which is even more sad---way to corrupt an entire generation of musician. Teachers should really learn about moral issues before they are allowed to teach, especially, young kids.

I never learned about fraud in school---way to spend an international air ticket to learn just that. Worth it?

It feels like I have been composing a lot this semester, but I actually haven't written that much. My bass trombone quartet commission is coming very slowly. I have this urge to finish it ASAP--don't know whether it's a good thing or not. Perhaps I am just anxious about commissions, that I want to see a finished product as quick as possible. I am, however, very satisfied with my recent completed piece Katachi IV for alto saxophone and live electronics. I can see my style slowly changing and evolving. Honestly, I would have never imagined it be like this, say, five years ago. I am excited, and anxious to see what's next.

More travels are ahead of me: Bowling Green, Hong Kong, Iowa... as much as I love traveling, I am broke.

I am liking Kansas City. There seems to be everything here, except for a job... This is looking to be a great academic year. I'll be studying with Chen Yi this semester!

Here comes the end of my summer vacation, again. I'll miss Hong Kong dearly.The longer I stay here, the more I feel that I cannot be seperated from this city - its people, its culture, its spirit, its breath...

This summer has been great! Mum and sister came for two weeks, and we took a road trip in the mid-west and around the east coast; we visited cities and places including:

1. Chicago, Premiums outlets;
2. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo;
3. Niagara Falls;
4. New York City - Statue of Liberty, Time Square, bus tour, Top of the Rock on Rockfeller Center, etc.
5. New York City - Met Museum of Art, Central Park;
6. Philly - Independence Hall, National Constitution Center, Liberty Bell, City Hall, etc.;
7. Washington D.C. - Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, White House, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History/Air and Space, etc., Shenandoah National Park;
8. Shenandoah National Park

It was SO tiring... now rest for a couple days before I head to Hong Kong!

I am done with everything for the semester. I feel such a big relief. There is a moment of sadness though--I had to return my office key today. I'm going to miss having an office; I'm going to miss everything in BG. A Master's degree goes by too fast. Two years go by too fast. I feel like I just arrived here yesterday, and now I have to go. But life moves on, right?

Thank you BG. I will not forget this place, and you will remain special in my heart.

Anyhow, I'll be back for the New Music Festival in fall to hear my Five Songs of the Von Seggerns (2010)! I received an email today from a teacher in Nebraska, whose student is researching about the train accident in Amanda's poems, and came across my piece. I am very glad that my music is making connection with people - this is what keeps me and all musicians working. We make music because we care; we make music because we want to communicate.

After deciding to attend UMKC instead of the other school, I am so released now. I feel so much more settled down. Today was the premiere of my thesis - Apparitions - a fantasy for chamber ensemble (2010-11). It went very well--I now have a good recording thanks for Conrad Chu (conductor) and the fabulous players from BG. This piece is so different from my earlier compositions.

And, right now I have been looking to acquire a car so that I can travel to my new school.

April is a very unsure month. I need to make my final decision on what school I will attend for my doctorate, which will directly affect my travel plans in the summer, and whether or not I should go to the soundSCAPE Summer Festival in Italy. This is a really difficult time for me... hopefully everything will clear up soon.

Sometimes, I think maybe I'm too tired for more schooling...

I am on the road again! I am really looking forwards to Zeitgeist's and Bel Cuore Quartet's performances this week! I'm staying at a motel now, and am about 180 miles away from Zeitgeist's Studio Z. I just received Bel Cuore Quartet's reading on my Saxophone Quartet (2009), and it was fantastic! Life is obviously treating me very well at this moment, except that my homework and project loads might kill me when I get back.