Ho's Through the Gates of the Crystal Garden was commissioned by the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects. A duo work for young performers, its musical profile is simple, with its technical demands within modest levels. Emphasis is placed on the music's lyricism, with the goal being to provide the performers with a piece that would help their development in lyrical playing.
Vincent Ho is a Canadian who is widely recognised as one of the most exciting composers of his generation. He has made waves in the music world of North America despite being fairly early in his compositional career, receiving numerous prizes, accolades, and prominent commissions in a relatively short space of time. Ho’s music is rich and energetic - a unique integration of influences ranging from the visual arts, electroacoustic and natural soundscapes, traditional classical music forms, and the physical properties of the instruments and ensembles for which he writes. His music is sensual, sonorous and richly textured, and Ho gives considerable attention to the audience’s experience of his intricate sound-worlds.
