B-Reel (and audience voices)

“Birch brook is spiritual for me, too. And so is your music. Glad you came to Labrador.”

Nan, I hope you’re proud of me and smiling. I carry you with me. 

“From anxiety hurt uncertainty, please help me continue.”

“Thank you for transporting me from my upside down world.”

“Thank you for what you taught me” 

“I felt immense love for this beautiful world & beautiful people” 

“Dad - you are my cells, you are my breath, you are my life. 

Dad - I am your cells, I am your breath, I am your life.”

“What a beautiful presence you are Tong”

“I grieve for myself, that for so long I did not love you as I could have. But do now.”

“You are magnificent, don’t ever doubt it, no matter how dark.”

(Something in Polish?)

“Dear dad, I love thanks to you + your love. I live in gratitude always.”

“Beautiful crazy energy, intense softness; heavy willful mourning. Grateful.”

“There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”

-Leonard Cohen 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to keep you well. And that I needed to lose you to grow. I’m thankful for the years we had together, and for how you helped me heal my relationship with mom and dad.”

“I wish you could be here.”

“My grandmother passed in 2014. She loved Chopin. I wish she was with me to hear you tonight. <3”

“It’s opening.”

“Here now being    Alive breathing now    Here smiling sad    Okay alive being”

“To Harry, my dad. You would love this music.”

“Having almost lost you once I worry we have already half let go”

“IT HURTS”

“It’s hard for me to fathom how little I miss you anymore”

“Thinking of my sister who died too early”

“The music evokes anger, passion, grief, and relief, AND enchantment. THANK YOU”

“My friend gave birth to her oldest son on Valentine’s Day 27 years ago. He passed away in a November from cancer. My heart is with her during this very appropriate concert setting. Thank you for the music.”

“You can’t have grief without love.”

“A paramedic returning to work from mental health had a great evening.”

“I’ve been listening to Murray Sinclair’s book while I paint every wall in my house. Talk about grief! I’ve been reading “braiding sweet grass. Talk about beauty and strength!”

“Tumbler ridge - overwhelming sadness.”

“This concert is just what I needed tonight”

“It feels like we’re all on a boat that’s sinking, but it’s hard to fully acknowledge it” 

“Pour it all into the magic. Just wow.”

“Thanks for the winter vacation” 

“You can hear the years put in.”

“I grieve for the years I lost to depression. Part of the Chopin march remind me of the sad feeling of hope I felt, after giving up freed me to live.”

“Thank you for spilling your guts out so we could travel inside them.”

“Bravo!! Quelle energie dans ce merveilleux voyage de melancolic Chopin à la flamme russe”

“To my brother Paul. I miss you and love you. You’d be so proud of your daughter. She’s looked after well. 

“The creative energy of the universe. Drink it, my friends.”

“Wo aie ni. So beautiful thank you”

“Thank you <3. I often use my thumb to trace my opposite palm, with hands clasped + realized, with your story, that I was tracing “Ren” <3. 人。I could so easily picture the girls running through the labyrinth!!” -Mary 

“I love these little papers! Thank you for the creative outlet. The world is a scary place right now. This concert helps. My husband and I had the best seat in the house. Watching you play is moving.”

“Feeling lost without parental guidance. So sad I wasn’t enough to keep…”

“Oh Danny oh Danny boy we miss you, Dad”

“Dear dad it’s been 6 years since you passed and it feels like yesterday. You would love this concert. Thank you for the love of music. Love Louisa.”

“I am who I am because of you. Thank you”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there with you but I know you’re always here with me.”

“I walk in the dark woods before dawn, breathing the darkness away…”

“Music is what keeps me connected to my deceased parents” 

“Eric we never forget you.” 

“For peace in the troubled earth”

“Before the concert, I sat with someone who is in chronic pain. This is why I was late. I want to thank you for being vulnerable with the rest of us.” 

“It was so amazing and inspiring to hear you play, thank you! - Ruth, 14”

“Truly splendid.”

“my mom who was a pianist would’ve loved this.”

“Send my love to the royal mountain - it had been too long”

“Tong Wang  I was very touched by your Persona that projected through your music . The commitment and personal cost for ability to make a composition breath like a living entity does not go unnoticed by me .  Thank you again ....!”

“Amazing concert, phenomenal Tong Wang, beautiful music and performance from the heart. 
The musical notes are just flowing from your fingers, soft and soothing the soul, like a lullaby, or coming down like a force of a tempest, making everyone pay attention and notice, and feel it, and in between the music is calming and captivating, but still moving.
That was a truly virtuoso performance.
Thank you, Tong ❤️”

“Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your music with us in Annapolis Royal. I love that you have a clear message (which you eloquently described above) and through the performance you communicated it. Your music went beyond simple one way communication and was a conversation. It pushes the audience to feel and learn. In the piece played after the intermission for example, I felt and learned exactly what you described above. In my case it was anger and disappointment, even self pity. And then later in the piece- beauty. It concluded for me with a blend of the two, helping me to see that the dark and the light you speak of can co-exist. Thank you.” Jane Power-Grimm 

“My 17-day old great niece died 2 years ago almost to the day. My grief is trivial compared to the towering, catastrophic grief of her mother’s. Your pieces may have exemplified a part of her shattered inner world.” -Karen Dwyer

“Seeing the glory of being alive surrounded by so much beauty that could otherwise go unnoticed: my partner’s warmth, my dog’s unflagging happiness, the way fresh snow outlines each pine needle, the confident pecking of pileated woodpeckers, the constant swishing sound of trees. It all.” -Karen Dwyer

“You do important work. Keep going. I’m not a very literate person regarding classical music so I am deeply appreciative of the many modes you used to draw me and the whole audience in: talking to us from your heart, welcoming us to write and record messages, highlighting curious or important sections of pieces so I could wait for them and give them attention and thought. So generous of you.” -Karen Dwyer

“Antigonish loved Tong’s performance! Beyond her incredible talent as a pianist, we loved her wise, heartfelt introductions to the repertoire. It was a truly engaging concert.” -Norine Verberg

“Astounding performance! So much physical strength and introspective intellect. Her playing was flawless and full of articulated tone that I've never heard before. Thoroughly enjoyable! -Bill Carpenter

One word or phrase to describe your experience.

“Gratitude
Rapturous 
Moving”

Which piece resonated the most with you, and why? 

Probably the first (Scriabin?), it made me think of my struggles with my father's mental health and watching him deteriorate and become more delusional. It almost brought me to tears honestly (nothing has ever brought me to tears but interstellar lol).

What was/is a dark place or moment for you? Did they become a necessary part of your path in some way? 

“My struggle with my body and my weight is a very large part of my life, and has taken up every day of mine for the last three years. Whether it be binging or not eating at all, the struggle has been real and I hope one day I can see it as a thing of the past.” 

Share a story of grief, living/reliving with or through grief. 

Nobody close to me has passed away, but the loss of my father both from my life entirely (he moved away to live alone) and his personality (he's so soo different now :( ). Anytime I try to contact him the things he says are so worrying and unthoughtful.

What has brought you hope/light/warmth recently?

My art and the friends I've made. I've had a bit of a rough spell so drawing and painting gives me so much joy especially in these colder months.