MusicOn+ InterArts Festival presents Composer Concerts and Pipa Concert in Review
The Blanc, New York, NY
October 3, 2026
The MusicOn+ InterArts Festival earlier this day had presented young pianist Taige Wang to open their 5th season. They continued their opening day with three more concerts; two featuring the works of young and upcoming composers, and the other dedicated to music for the Pipa. The promotional materials provided detailed a plethora of awards and honors achieved by the invited composers, so one was naturally eager to hear the works of these up-and-comers.
There were printed programs for all the concerts, and pictures and bio information about the composers. Most of the composers also wrote detailed notes about their compositions. This is always appreciated, and it helps all listeners, novice and expert, gain insight about what they are hearing. Two young persons served as MCs, alternating in announcing works. The composers who were in attendance also were invited to take bows after their works were played.
One must first acknowledge all the fine musicians who performed. They are the heroes of the day, and all the composers should be grateful to have had such attentive and committed musicians give their music their full efforts. It was not lost on this listener. They are Ethan Zheng, Xiaolin Zhang, Joanne Kang, Wang Lu, Shalun Li (piano), Sara Salomon, Yeji Pyun (violin), Carlos Walker (viola), Clara Cho, Ben Tsung-Yu Tsai (cello), Kaichen Chang (flute), David Valbuena, Yu-Ting Chen (clarinet), Zachary Pulse (oboe), Nisreen NorFlor (bassoon), Yi-Chia Tu (alto saxophone), Aidan Peterson, Ryo Morita (trumpet) Nathan Spergel, Blair Hamrick (horn), Linhui Wu, Peter Lin (trombone), Yunzho (Elvis) Li (bass trombone), Makana Medeiros (percussion), Lucia Stavros (harp), Suvan Agarwal (guitar), Evangeline Ng (soprano), Chihiro Asano (mezzo-soprano), and Youngwoo Jeon (conductor).
The first concert (Composer Concert 1) was scheduled to begin at 4:00pm. However, at this time, rehearsing was still going on, and there seemed to be no sense of urgency in getting things started. After some meandering about and moving the pianos to-and-fro, things finally commenced at 4:15pm. To treat a published starting time as a suggestion and not an absolute is inexcusable and downright disrespectful to the audience. While one can make allowances for starting a few minutes late, rehearsing past the start time is certainly not one! Couple this with the failure to account for the time lengths of the works, added to the time to move performers on-and-off stage, led what was supposed to be a three hour schedule of concerts (by their own printed materials!) to be nearly five hours in length. Many people plan their attendance to a concert carefully, and often schedule other things (such as return travel) around the advertised time. Evidently this was not a one-off; the same thing happened the next day in the Sunday concerts. To quote a popular internet celebrity: “Do Better.”
Composer Concert 1 featured seven works between five and twelve minutes in duration. Music for Two Pianos, by Cyrano Jett Rosentrater, opened the concert. The pianists sat back-to-back on a shared bench, possibly to represent Janus, from whom the composer took inspiration. Dialogue (“musical chatter”) between the pianists and tonal decay was prominent, in what was an ingeniously conceived work. I loved You Once, by Jinhan Xiao, was lovely, with seemingly simple means used to great effect. Special credit to soprano Evangeline Ng for her luminous voice. Dawn On A Marketplace, by Lucy Chen captured the dawn of a new day before moving to portraying the bustling of a number of exotic marketplace locales (Seattle, China, and Morocco are mentioned by the composer in her notes). The interplay between the players was witty. SONDER, by Angela Jin, takes the idea of the definition of the word sonder (n. the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles) as its theme. Patterns dominate thematically, with the use of extended techniques to suggest the “awareness” of others, which was a fascinating concept. Graei, byFabian Leung, is something of a misnomer. There was a sense of play and whimsy and what seemed to be free improvisation that was anything but grey! Towards Tangerine Island, by Claire Hu, was enigmatic to this listener. The notes provided no musical context- but rather short Zen-like musings. All individuals in the large ensemble (String quartet, flute, clarinet, and harp), including an (uncredited) singer not mentioned in the instrumentation, were all given prominence. There was a lot going on, but what story was being told is highly reliant on how one views the premise- is Tangerine Island an actual place? Is it imaginary, or is it a metaphor? I will opt for imaginary. Silent Abyss, byWinston Schneider, closed the concert. While no one is going to leave humming the tune, it was a masterful sonic representation of desolation that could be used to great effect in the cinematic depiction of empty or dark space in the universe. It was probably my favorite of this concert.
After taking an intermission (making the already late 5:00pm concert even later), the second concert of the evening featuring the traditional Chinese instrument, the Pipa, commenced. Four world premieres of works commissioned especially for this occasion, plus a work from Xu Zhenmin (1934-2024), “China’s Tchaikovsky,” formed the program. Yang Jin was the Pipa artist. The program notes state that she “is an award-winning pipa artist and educator, whose career bridges Chinese traditional music, contemporary composition, and cross-cultural collaboration.” Each of the composers of the new works were present and spoke about their works in lieu of written notes. Not all were clearly heard – combine softer speaking voices with very antsy children making noise right behind me, and the end result was I no doubt missed some important contextual information.
I make no claims to any expertise in regard to the Pipa, but Ms. Jin demonstrated artistry and a formidable technique, not to mention great stamina, as her energy never flagged throughout some lengthy works (the shortest being 11 minutes, the two longest were 20 minutes each).
Unsaid, untold, by Wang Lu, was the first of the four world premieres. Highly dramatic, with a simmering intensity between the pipa and the piano, it was a good example of the power of combining traditional and modern elements to advantage. Ceci N’est Pas Une Pipa, by Brazilian composer Felipe Lara, adds a harp to the pipa/piano duo. There is a definite Latin flavor in this twenty- minute work (imagine say, Segovia, picks up the pipa). It was good fun, but I felt my interest flagging; I believe it was just too long. Aftersong, by Yoon-Ji Lee, for violin, cello, clarinet, and pipa, was another chance for Ms. Jin to flex her technical prowess. With the additional bell-like elements and spoken word, it was a compelling work. Antiphon in memoriam Michael Harrison, by Anthony Vine, was the last of the world premieres. It was also my favorite work, not only on this program, but of the entire evening. Not because of any pyrotechnics (there are none) or soaring melodies (also none), but because it is so unashamedly sincere. There was a lot of emotion packed in the simplest of means, which was very moving.
At this point, the Song of the Pipa, by Zhenmin Xu was supposed to have finished this concert, but was nixed. “We are running so late” was the reason given, but it ended up being inserted into the Composer Concert 2 later (so we will run later still, but just delayed? Not a logical decision). I’ll just talk about it here. It’s a twenty-minute showpiece, in which the designation of “China’s Tchaikovsky” is apt only in that the piano writing is completely derivative. That’s not the insult it seems, as it does take skill to write so convincingly in a borrowed style.
There was no designated break before starting the last concert of the evening, the Composer Concert 2 (now more than an hour late in starting the 6:00pm concert). The audience had noticeably thinned out by this time, and I felt sorry for the last group of composers and any persons who came especially to hear their works. Extra points for the musicians, who were still “all-in.” Respect!
It was good luck that the MCs were still at work, as the order of the program was completely different from the printed material. None of Us Be Missing, by Jacky Jiaqi Liu, started the final concert. Written for brass quintet (although the program listed tuba, it was a bass trombone), it takes its title from Emily Dickinson. This was competent, if somewhat basic, brass writing, with good voicing, chorale-like that shows promise for the future. Crepitus and Cavitations, 1st movement, by Maya Miro Johnson, followed. (Crepitus: Grating, crackling or popping sounds and sensations experienced under the skin and joints.) Far and away the most “experimental” work of the evening, it relies on sound effects and a great deal of visual (i.e., the soft striking or stumming of tuning forks on strings, inaudible hand motions across the faces of the instruments, etc.). If Arthritis required a soundtrack, this would be it. Contours de la memoire, by Hangzhong Lin followed. The composer shared his inspiration in his notes in what was a rather complicated compositional process, which I will somewhat cheekily summarize as Sergei Eisenstein meets Milton Babbitt. For all that, it came out sounding rather straightforward and accessible, with a gorgeous viola sola at the beginning. Asynchronous collapses, by Wang Ziyuan is inspired by the journey of Voyager 1. The farther the journey, the weaker the communication signal becomes, until it is lost altogether. It was portrayed with stylistic ease, the sign of a composer confident in their craft. Transcriptions in a funhouse mirror, vol. 2 , by Paul Novak followed the re-inserted Pipa work. The title suggests irreverent entertainment. The use of a battery of percussion (marimba, shaker, triangle, wood block, and tom-tom) brought the whimsy to the fore in what was twelve minutes of Machaut songs “distorted by the mirror” complete with what the composer calls a “jangling medieval dance.” Requiem, by Yiming Wu, is not to be confused with any part of the requiem mass; it is a remembrance, and a very poignant one. It had a distinct pop-ballad sound that was very easy on the ears, and the composer shows a gift for melody and skill in writing for the voice. On the Outskirts, by Qianchen Lu, was the final work of this marathon evening. It was an excellent work that deserved better conditions (at this point, nearly everyone was exhausted, both physically and aurally).
Congratulations to all composers and performers. The series continues with more concerts on October 4, 2026.
