Those whose voices have been silenced by the crushing weight of political struggle could not breathe. True respect and equality are not performative gestures or special treatment. They are something quieter and more demanding: understanding others from the inside, and treating them as you would treat yourself. In the face of overwhelming political forces, the smallest gears may feel as powerless as an ant caught in a crack — but they deserve to live fully, and with dignity.
At the technical level, the piece explores the relationship between time and event. The same gesture lands differently depending on when it arrives; the same duration feels entirely different depending on what fills it. These slippages reveal how human beings perceive time not as a fixed line, but as something layered and multidimensional. Performers are asked to attend to their own breath and heartbeat, and to navigate precisely between synchronous and asynchronous passages — not as a mechanical exercise, but as an act of initiative listening. For me, performers are not simply intermediaries between composer and audience. They are presences in their own right, capable of revealing their full physical and psychological selves, and of forming real connections with one another in the act of performance.
Can I Breathe? was written for Quatuor Diotima, who gave its world premiere remotely at the Ticino Musica Festival in Switzerland on July 30, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Selected Past Performances:
那些被政治斗争的沉重碾过、扼住咽喉的声音，再也无法呼吸。真正的尊重与平等，从不靠姿态的表演，也非刻意的优待。它更为沉静，也更为苛求：那是从内部去理解另一个人，是待他人如待己身。在铺天盖地的政治洪流面前，再微小的齿轮，也可能如困于石缝中的蚁——无力而脆弱。但它们，仍值得好好地、有尊严地活下去。
在技术的层面，这部作品探讨的是时间与事件的关系。同一个织体，因落下的时刻不同，意味全然相异；同样的时长，因填充的内容有别，感知便天差地别。这些错位，揭示了人如何感知时间——那不是一条固定的直线，而是一个层层叠加、多维交织的存在。演奏者需关注自己的呼吸与心跳，在齐奏与错位之间精准游走，不是为了机械地完成指令，而是为了在聆听中成为主动的在场者。于我而言，演奏者并非作曲家与听众之间的中介。他们本身便是鲜活的在场，是能够将自己全部的身心袒露、并在演奏之中真正彼此相连的存在。
《我还配呼吸吗？》是为迪奥蒂玛四重奏而作，该作品于2020年7月30日在瑞士提契诺音乐节上以线上方式进行了首演，当时正值新冠疫情期间。
部分过往演出：
