Hi. I'm Arnor, and I'm a percussionist and composer based in New York City.
As a composer, Arnor was the winner of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) International Composition Contest, and his works appear on various required repertoire lists for competitions around the country, including the Texas UIL, and Florida Bandmasters Association. His compositions have been performed across five continents, and at various competitions and music educators’ conferences worldwide.
Arnor received his bachelor’s degree from Boston University on a full arts scholarship, graduating magna cum laude, where he studied percussion performance with Sam Solomon, Kyle Brightwell and Tim Genis, and studied composition with Martin Amlin. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree at The Juilliard School, studying with New York Philharmonic percussionist Daniel Druckman.
I remember back in high school, my friends were practicing section 3 and 4 all the time after school. I’m not too well versed in marimba pieces, but out of all the ones I know, this is hands down my favorite
Dear Arno, I was thinking of writing something for Piano and Marimba and your piece is super encouraging. It goes together wonderfully - really excellent!
i’m struggling out here with sticking. anyone wanna help a homie in need and tell me how to stick phrases like 00:32 getting both the bass notes and soprano motif is tough
If you have questions about stickings for any particular section, I'd be more than happy to send suggestions; however, I've seen people use many different stickings all with success, and I always encourage everyone to come up with a sticking that works best for them and their own technique/style.
Hello Arnor, I’m a sophomore in high school amd absolutely love listening to your playing and your writing. I have played stay alive, for me and until dawn for fba solo and ensemble and got superiors on both. I have been looking for new music for next year and you come out with this beautiful piece and was so excited to play it for next year. But then I saw that it was 5 octave required which my school doesn’t have. I would be so happy if you could make a 4.3 octave version if you have the extra time. If not, would it be possible to just augment it on my own?
Thanks for the kind words, and for performing my music-congratulations on your solo and ensemble superiors! Unfortunately this piece is not so easy to adapt for 4.3-octave marimbas without changing its character, since it truly utilises the full range of both 5-octave instruments, more so than my other 5-octave pieces. You are more than welcome to try though, and maybe one of these days I will, too; however, my initial feeling is that it's not quite possible.
I performed Drift Away this year and loved it. It even got me a music scholarship. When I go to college next year I'd love to learn this piece with a friend!!!
Your marimba duet is absolutely beautiful, Arnor! But, isn't that what I think about every song you compose? I guess so! I've had a wonderful experience on your channel and I am always so happy when I listen to your peices and see them in your interpretation. Please keep going, you are a big inspiration to me and lot's of other musicians! ❤😊
i just watched stay alive for me which is one of my favorite duet pieces made by arnor chu, which by the DIFFERENCE is actually crazy. that was made 4 years ago and to see the skill he has improved so much upon is insnane. it's still one of my favorite pieces and every single piece he makes are incredible. but push and pull shows so much amazing development that not everyone can get to in that amount of time.
This is an absolutely beautiful piece of music! The "Push and Pull" concept just permeates into absolutely every aspect of this piece and it's fantastic. The key modulating all over the place gives this such a remarkably unique sound and character; 1:51 and the 2:11/3:24 sections being fantastic examples. One part I especially love is how the melody jumps between players at the end, it sort of puts the rest of the piece into perspective. Also, I don't know what it is, but 3:53 has a unique sound unlike any other composer that shows up in a ton of pieces like Until Dawn, Drift Away, and Embers Above- I love it. I truly hope to perform this piece with somebody in the future
I got about a minute and a half in, and i just started to break down crying in my room. My life has been so hard lately, but this was just so beautiful and somehow meaningful to me i couldn’t help but cry. Thank you
I have just finished learning this piece and it’s really great, but i noticed certain parts in the music are written slightly different. For example in the video he plays the left hand different in 3:41. Anybody have any advice for what to do?
