Premiere Works XXIX: Composers as Performers

• Wang Guowei, erhu
• Sun Li, pipa
• Zhou Jing, zheng
• Hong-Da Chin, dizi
• Frank Cassara, percussion

Hong-Da Chin — Almost Identical (world premiere; for dizi, pipa, erhu, bawu, cello, percussion)
Hong-Da Chin — Selected works (Chinese winds improvisation)
Zhou Jing — Melancholique (for zheng & cello)
Zhou Jing — Selected works (world premiere TBA; for erhu & pipa)
Wang Guowei — Mosaic (world premiere; for erhu & virtual ensemble)

About Music From China

Since 1984, Music From China has brought the best of Chinese music – traditional and contemporary – to audiences in the New York area and beyond.

Critics have praised us as "musicians of extraordinary accomplishment and sensitivity performing sophisticated, involving music" (Kansas City Star) and have singled us out for being "accustomed to shattering listeners’ expectations." (High Fidelity)

From the start, Music From China has carved a unique place for ourselves in the music world by playing not only the traditional repertoire, but the latest of contemporary work as well. For more than two decades, our annual Premiere Works concert series has been one of the world’s primary venues for new works written for Chinese instruments – by both emerging and established composers. The International Composition Competition draws submissions from around the world for our prestigious Music From China Prize.

As collaborators, Music From China regularly works with other ensembles, notably the new-music pioneers PRISM Quartet and the early-music Four Nations Ensemble. In 2001, we joined Yo-Yo Ma in a unique event that included the playing of 3,000-year old Chinese bronze bells at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art in Washington, D.C. For creative programs that combine the music of East and West, Music From China was awarded an Adventurous Programming commendation from Chamber Music America and ASCAP.

Our educational programs have taken us to almost 200 schools, giving students in elementary through high school grades hands-on experience with Chinese instruments and a musical window into Chinese culture. Artist-in-residence programs have taken us to campuses from Bard College and Texas A&M to Princeton University and beyond.

Our 30-member Music From China Youth Orchestra offers youngsters aged 8 to 18 the fun, friendships and discipline of regular rehearsals and concerts along with a chance to connect with Chinese culture in an unforgettable way.

https://musicfromchina.org

About Wang Guowei, erhu

Wang Guowei's eclectic voice on the erhu expresses a life-long passion for the instrument and its music. With the artistry and skill of a master musician, he interprets a full range of musical genres, be it folk, classical, contemporary, or cross-cultural. Shanghai-born and now residing in the U.S., Wang Guowei is dedicated to advancing the art of erhu music as a musician, composer, and teacher.

https://wangguoweierhu.wordpress.com

About Sun Li, pipa

Sun Li graduated from the Shenyang Music Conservatory where she studied pipa and was a member of the Central Song and Dance Ensemble in Beijing. She has performed with Music From China since 2002. Her recent appearances include the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, and 2013 Lincoln Center Festival.

https://musicfromchina.org/artists/

About Hong-Da Chin, dizi

Malaysian composer Hong-Da Chin explores boundaries of different natures and enjoys investigating the tension-release relationship in his music. His musical voice draws inspiration from poetry, novella, and visual arts. Chin was a winner of the Bent Frequency 2022 Call for Scores and a finalist of the ASU Gammage Beyond and ASU Symphony Orchestra Commission Competition in 2018.

Chin’s music has been performed in the United States, Germany, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Austria, Poland, Israel, Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. The ensembles and performers that have performed his music include the No Exit New Music Ensemble, Khasma Piano Duo, Ogni Suono Saxophone Duo, Bent Frequency, Patchwork, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Altered Sound Duo among others. His music has been featured at the Spoleto Festival USA, World Saxophone Congress, Asian Composers League Festival and Conference, Society of Composers National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, Society of Composers National Conference, WIU New Music Festival, University of Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival, Bowling Green New Music Festival, NEOSonic Festival, Threshold Festival, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Rasquache Artist Residency, Avaloch Farm Institute among others.

In addition to his work as a composer Chin is an accomplished Chinese flutist specializing in contemporary music. He has performed at venues such as the Carnegie Hall (NYC), Alice Tully Hall (NYC), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington D.C.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Asia Society (NYC), Phillips Collection (Washington D.C.), Huntington Library (LA), Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.), Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park (Chicago), Art Institute of Chicago, and Silesian Theatre (Katowice, Poland).

Chin earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from BGSU in December 2017 studying with Marilyn Shrude and Mikel Kuehn. Chin is faculty of Composition and Music Theory at Western Illinois University, a member of the ADJ•ective Composers’ Collective and the Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers.

Beyond his musical activities, Chin is an avid badminton player.

https://hongdachin.com

About Frank Cassara, percussion

A proponent of new and classic, western and world percussion music, FRANK CASSARA has premiered many works with as many diverse groups. As percussionist for the Philip Glass Ensemble, he has performed around the globe as well as recording Glass' music and film scores. He has also performed around the world with Steve Reich and Musicians at major international festivals. As a member of the New Music Consort/PULSE Percussion Ensemble he has appeared at major festivals in the US and abroad, as well as premiering and recording new percussion ensemble works. Frank Cassara has toured extensively with Newband/Harry Partch Ensemble, performing and recording on Partch's original microtonal instruments and Dean Drummond's Zoomoozophone. He has also performed or recorded with groups as Music From China, Percussia, Manhattan Marimba Quartet, Talujon Percussion Quartet, North/South Consonance and Ethos Percussion Group. Principal percussionist of the Riverside Symphony, he has been principal of the Connecticut Grand Opera and a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He has also performed with many area orchestras such as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, and the Long Island Philharmonic. Frank Cassara has played for Broadway shows Lion King, Porgy & Bess, Phantom, 42nd Street, and Music Manl among others; and heads the percussion departments at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, Long Island University, and Vassar College.

https://frankcassara.com