VICTORIA for Solo Tenor Saxophone

A work for solo tenor saxophone inspired by the composer's deeply personal response to the 1997 return of Hong Kong to China. Rather than portraying the historical event itself, the composition explores the emotional complexity of witnessing the transformation of the composer's birthplace—a landscape shaped by nostalgia, uncertainty, hope, loss, and questions of identity. Structured as a dramatic musical narrative, the work combines lyrical passages with moments of intense psychological tension, reflecting the conflicting emotions surrounding a pivotal moment in Hong Kong's history. A wide range of contemporary extended techniques—including multiphonics, slap tongue, flutter tonguing, key clicks, timbral trills, microtonal inflections, and controlled overblowing—expands the expressive possibilities of the instrument. The performance is further enhanced by theatrical elements, such as spoken vocalizations, stylized physical gestures, and carefully choreographed stage movements, blurring the boundary between concert performance and music theatre. Together, these musical and theatrical devices create a powerful meditation on memory, identity, and the enduring relationship between homeland and self.