Program

Fazil Say - Four Cities (2003)

1. Sivas 

2. Hopa 

3. Ankara 

4. Bodrum

Alice Ho - Four Impressions of China (2023) 

1. Hunan - a folk song

2. Tibet - train ride through the Himalayas

3. Heilongjiang - dance of the "Black Dragon'', "Winter Lullaby" transition to

4. Hong Kong - night at the Harbour

-intermission-

Fuhong Shi - The Reed

Johannes Brahms - Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Andantino grazioso

IV. Allegro

“Four Impressions of China” is a cello-piano tour by pianist Tong Wang and cellist David Dietz across China. The recital program features the international premiere of a Canada Council commissioned work by the Canadian-Chinese composer Alice Ping Yee Ho, “Four Impressions of China”, Turkish composer Fazil Say’s “Four Cities”, along with Chinese composer Fuhong Shi’s “Reed” and a new commission by the Hong Kongese composer Wendy Lee. This project will be presented in collaboration with the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

This program explores the themes of cultural roots for Chinese immigrants and diaspora - more specifically, both the internal and external challenges of finding, imagining, and idealizing our cultural roots through nostalgia, collective memory, and geographic means. Expressing that nostalgia through a dialogue of traditional and contemporary Chinese-Canadian music and capturing the longing for rootedness, homecoming, and belonging is the core of this program. This tour program aims at better understanding the roots of traditional music from different regions of China in order to advocate for their role and significance in the context of Canadian-Chinese contemporary music. 

As a member of the Chinese diaspora, I commissioned “Four Impressions of China” in 2023 by fellow first-generation immigrant musician Alice Ping Yee Ho to further explore, understand, and rediscover my roots while paying homage to my parent’s personal stories of struggle and resilience as immigrants. 

This project not only bridges Chinese and Canadian cultures by advocating for a Chinese-Canadian composer and commissioning a new work by a Hong Kongese female composer, but it also provides an opportunity to explore my personal identity as a China-born Canadian artist. By returning to China and greeting the land and stories of my parent’s childhood, their “old home”, I can further explore, understand, and rediscover my roots, paying homage to a long lineage of family history and heritage. I will be visiting the childhood cities of my parents and retracing their steps before they left China in search of a better future. This process will be deeply impactful and valuable as I unravel stories and challenges faced by a diasporic population and strengthen a connection to my Chinese background.