https://prairiedebut.com/2026-27-tong-wang/

“My Big Prairie Sky” is a program born out of my love for the land. After immigrating to Canada, I lived for 10 years in Edmonton, and then another 10 in Airdrie. I (proudly, and humbly) call Alberta my home. Year after year, there is nothing that moves me more than returning to the rolling foothills of the Rockies – to the snow, the winter sun, the wildflowers in open fields, to that most enveloping, magnificent, ‘Big Prairie Sky’.

My ongoing mission to facilitate entry into classical, global, and contemporary music for my beloved home community shaped my artistic vision of this program. My experience with launching the Windwood Music Festival in Airdrie has taught me the challenges of bringing classical chamber music to rural Alberta. It has also offered me a deeper insight into the needs, interests, and stories of this audience, which continues to guide me in my strategies for programming and curating an engaging, relatable, and appealing musical experience.

The repertoire is designed especially for Prairie audiences – a bit of the familiar, a bit of the fresh, something for everyone to grab onto no matter their musical language or background. The program captures the soundscapes of the Prairies through its changing seasons – fresh blooms of Spring, rowdy rodeo (and secretive romance!) mid-Summer, introspective solitude late Fall, and unrelenting snowstorms in the dead of Winter. Along the way, I will be offering transcriptions of recognizable folk songs by Canadian icons Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.