A night to remember - Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3 with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra

news
Written By Tong Wang
April 21, 2018 Red Deer College Arts Center

April 21, 2018 Red Deer College Arts Center

 

My heart is still throbbing with emotion. 

It's always been a huge dream for me to perform Rachmaninoff's concertos. Rachmaninoff's music is so close to my heart. It's at the height of that passionate, Russian, post-romantic expression, so expansive and lush in its sonorities, so powerful and grand, unapologetically sentimental. The third concerto is one that always brings me to tears, particularly the coda in the last movement - just when you think the music can't possibly become anymore intense or emotional, Rachmaninoff stretches and pushes the climax even further. To perform this masterpiece finally with a full orchestra, it was such a privilege. I felt so overwhelmed by passion and excitement. I was exhilarated to be onstage. This is exactly where I want to be. Exactly what I want to be doing. 

I really can’t put to words how much I love sharing music, how much it means to me. I am so grateful. Thank you to such a warm and supportive orchestra, thank you Claude for this opportunity, for this special, memorable, passionate collaboration. Thank you, Rachmaninoff. 

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
Previous

Solo Recital in Montreal