Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No.2


The voice that will always resonate closest, most instinctively, emotionally, passionately with my heart ... #rachmaninoff

I love that the music we study is so in-depth and powerful and endless in insight and possibilities that everytime we come back to them we discover new perspectives and gems and details - this new enlightened, renewed fascination with the same notes we’ve been repeating and perfecting for so many tireless hours. There’s always more, more to find, more to improv, more to do justice for. And it’s so worth it. We grow and change and mature with our music, and I love experiencing and becoming aware of that constantly developing relationship. 

What I’ve found recently is a better understanding of the simplicity in Rachmaninoff’s music. Within the rich thick texture, the resonance, the virtuosity, there’s this emotional intensity rooted in a tight structure, a hauntingly beautiful, unique harmonic core that holds together the whole piece. 

The ringing of those bells, the yearning in the chromaticism, the sincere, deep singing melodies ... what a privilege it is to spend our time discovering and understanding music like this.

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Tong Wang

Tong Wang is a Canadian artist leading innovative initiatives across areas of performance, research, and community engagement. Her projects explore the role of art in relation to identity, culture, and current social-political issues. As a soloist and chamber musician, Tong has performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, and ensembles across North America and Europe. As a multidisciplinary artist, she has written the libretto of a new opera, “Labyrinth of Tears”, funded by the Canada Council, FRQSC, and SSHRC, participated in the Napoule Arts Foundation Residency in France, and published an award-winning photo-essay in the literary magazine Carte Blanche. Her other projects include the creative performances “Song of Praise”, “Ghiblilane”, “Once Upon a Pumpkin”, and research on the aesthetic of “cuteness” in popular and classical music. Tong recently toured a recital on multiculturalism, “我们Us” in Lunenburg, Montreal, Basel, and presented the interactive concerts “We’re Not Really Strangers” and “My Neighbours Totoro and Claude!” at the Verbier Festival. In 2022, Tong launched the Windwood Music Festival in Airdrie, Alberta to engage with and support rural farming communities through classical chamber music. In 2023, Tong will be touring with Duo Perdendosi across eastern US & Canada, as well as with Duo Incarnadine in Turkey and China to premiere a new commission by Alice Ho, Four Impressions of China. Using diverse mediums, Tong aims to share the power of art to reach across time, languages, borders, and cultures to connect people and kindle a shared understanding.

https://tong-wang.com
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