Meng Wang Music Academy presents Voices Unbound in Review
Meng Wang Music Academy presents Voices Unbound in Review
Ying Li and Jiacheng Xiong, Piano; Yi Qun Xu, Cello;
Hector Noriega, Clarinet; Guilherme Andreas, Flute;
Marius Staible and Daniel Roth, Accordion
Yvette Keong, Soprano
Yunze Mu, Myles Hayden, and Trexler Cook, Data-Driven Instruments
Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
October 2, 2026
On Friday, October 2, 2026, the Meng Weng Academy, in collaboration with the Paulus Hook Music Foundation, presented a concert entitled “Voices Unbound” at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, featuring music by thirteen composers of all ages and varying stages of development. Led by dedicated teacher and composer Meng Weng, who has mentored many of them (and also teaches at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Mannes Prep), the event had a twofold goal of presenting young talent and raising funds for the non-profit called Facta Non Verba, which supports education in Madagascar.
On the program were solo, chamber, and electroacoustic works, nearly all of them listed as composed or completed in 2026, except for a 2019 accordion solo by Dr. Reiko Füting (teacher of composition at the Manhattan School of Music), and, surprisingly, two song arrangements by Kurt Weill from 1938. The rest of the works were brand new creations by Yunze Mu, Ella Bao, Zoey Feng, Nick Leatherman, Yunxuan Michael Li, Jasper Luan, Austin Ma, Winston Qin, Charles Z. Wang, and Ciara Zhang – some by students as young as eighth grade.
From what appeared to be a musical marathon (and it did run from 8:00pm to 10:20pm), this reviewer was pleasantly surprised. All of the young composers’ works showed commendable accomplishment and promise – and it helped, of course, that they were performed by experts in the field. The players gave their all as they would for music by Beethoven or any established master. Though details on each performer would be endless, credits are in order. The musicians included violinist Qianwen Shen of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, cellist Yi Qun Xu of the Juilliard Pre-College faculty, Young Concert Artists pianist Ying Li, Curtis Institute pianist Jiacheng Xiong, 2025-26 Rochester Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist Hector Noriega, award-winning flutist Guilherme Andreas, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Winner soprano Yvette Keong. How lucky these younger composers were to have premieres performed by them! The University of Louisville Electro-Acoustic Ensemble – featuring Yunze Mu, Keegan Watts, and Myles Hayden – performed on data-driven instruments.
The program opened with a captivating piano solo called Continuum composed by Winston Qin. It started with a simple repeated six-note motive that reappeared in the harmonies and through varied iterations to build a beautiful arc – before receding touchingly with remnants of its theme. In just roughly two minutes, it captured the idea of its title as Mr. Qin explains it in the notes, that “what we leave behind keeps shaping the people who come after us.” A piece of music needn’t be long to make an indelible statement, and this did just that. It couldn’t have been a better introduction for the speech that followed by his teacher Meng Wang, about the charitable mission behind this concert.
More piano music followed with When the Wind Stops by Ciara Zhang. In a style reminiscent of musical Impressionists, though with a certain individuality, it suggested the alternating movement and stillness of nature. The piano background of this composer was evident in some brilliant treble figuration evoking the wind.
Further inspiration from nature (a recurring theme in this concert) came through a piece for clarinet and piano by eighth grader Nick Leatherman who based his Impressions of Mürren on views of the Swiss Alps, with two movements – “Day: The Flower Trail” and “Night: Stillness and Dreams.” There was a certain Schubertian quality to this music, with virtuoso flourishes suggesting influences of later composers, though with a budding style of his own.
A piano trio by Charles Z. Wang followed, entitled Paradox. As the young composer wrote to sum it up, “It seems like you’re moving forward or making progress, but in the end, you always end up in the same place.” Full of slides from the strings and questioning gestures, it proceeded with increasing intensity, complexity, and chromaticism, offering the most modernistic style of the program so far.
Kanonensong, next, from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill, was something of an anomaly on the program but a welcome one, and it was especially interesting in the two-accordion arrangement of Marius Staible and Daniel Roth. The two German musicians are a duo, touring under the name “con:trust” – and they brought this famous number considerable skill and some surprising theatrics as they played.
Marius Staible then was solo accordionist in the work entitled ineo by Reiko Füting, head of the composition department at the Manhattan School of Music. “Ineo” refers to St. Augustine’s words (translated from Latin as “I enter”) and for the composer (according to his notes) refers to ideas of Hannah Arendt on “the potential for political change represented by the birth of each human being.” The relationship between this reflection and the actual piece requires some speculation, but contrasts were clear between the hymn-like keyboard parts (fragments of Josquin Desprez) and the extended techniques, including non-verbal utterances, loud breathing, gasping, and sounds produced by shaking, tapping, and dragging the hand across the bellows of the accordion.
To close the first half was a piece called Galactic Railroad by Yunze Mu for electro-acoustic ensemble. The composer’s notes state that “It was inspired by Night on the Galactic Railroad by Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. In my imagination, the Milky Way is filled with steam trains. They meet, travel together for a time, and eventually part ways. None of them knows its final destination; they simply continue moving forward, restlessly, toward the unknown.” The University of Louisville Electro-Acoustic Ensemble – including its composer plus Trexler Cook and Myles Hayden – came onstage with laptops and devices in hand to recreate this conception, controlling the electronic output with at times expansive arm gestures. Many classically trained musicians like to critique such creations as “sound effects” rather than music, but frequent exposure can start to affect how one hears everyday sounds. Case in point, just as the performance conjured sounds of being on a train (perhaps near a loud construction site, with storms brewing in the distance), this reviewer’s actual subway trip home after the concert almost had her searching the train platform for whom to applaud.
After intermission, we heard another Kurt Weill composition, his September Song, played sensitively by Daniel Roth, back with his accordion. His fluid jazz style was winning, showing expert timing and a flair for musical “punchlines.”
After the Weill, young composer Ella Bao came onstage to speak, not only as one of the featured musicians but as the philanthropic liaison whose experience staying in rural Madagascar gave rise to the charitable effort, “Voices Unbound.” Her song, Whispers of Silence followed, and it was lyrical and engaging. One wished that there had been a printed text for it though, as even with the soprano’s commendable diction, it was impossible to understand longer words, especially as the piano shared the spotlight.
A piano trio came next, Blossom, by Chongyu (Austin) Ma. Described by the composer as “reflecting on “the fragile and changing nature of human connection,” it came off thoughtfully, evoking the hesitations and remembrances.
Feathered Flight for cello and piano by Zoey Fang followed, conjuring the wonder of birds overhead with fluttering piano figuration and soaring cello lines.
More nature inspiration was evident in a piano trio called Glimmering River by Jasper Luan. Again of somewhat impressionistic style, it went far beyond glimmering into an intense exploration with quite a bit of percussive dissonance.
The concert concluded with a quintet for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, entitled Idyll by Yunxuan (Michael) Li. Young Mr. Li, who is described in the biographical notes as drawing inspiration from Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, is described in the program notes as moving in this work “beyond his musical comfort zone.” Indeed, there were hints of Shostakovich and others of a later vintage here. Most importantly, though, there was skillful treatment of his material, which he developed with fiery energy and a conversational fluency among instruments. It was quite compelling and made a great finale to the concert.
All in all, it was an inspiring evening. One had to admire that so many of these young talents have worked with one mentor, Meng Wang, and yet there was still considerable individuality among them. Aside from a penchant for nature-based compositions, there were distinct musical personalities emerging among them. Congratulations to all, and best of luck on this charitable endeavor.
