Fall 2021 Recital! "Once Upon a Pumpkin"

Written By Tong Wang

“Once Upon a Pumpkin”

My Montreal solo recital will be on October 30, 2021 @5PM in Redpath Hall! Magic and fairy tales, of course. Halloween. Macabre. Princess and dwarfs. Please join me for an enchanted autumn adventure~

RVSP

Program

Mozart
Piano Sonata in F Major, K.280
Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 9 in C Major, Op.103
Liszt
Ballade No.2
Wild
Reminiscences of Snow White

10.02.2021

Yesterday, I saw Opera McGill’s “Ariapalooza Redux”.

In person.
Live.
Together with fellow human beings.

And it completely shocked me, in so many ways. Feeling the energy, sounds, laughter, movement, vibrations, life, all the dimensions shifting and morphing around me, the community coming together to engage in this experience … it reminded all that I thought I already knew or appreciated. I know we’ve already been back attending concerts in person, and performing live as well. But wow, how we still forget the precious things we try to be grateful for everyday, until we’re reminded, until this art, these artists, their hardwork and beautiful sincere intentions help us notice - in this case: look, hear, feel, this is what it means to be experiencing music together in person again. The design and production and delivery of this concert really highlighted that awareness. We’re back!

So this is what it means. How moving. These are the ways we can start to redefine live concertgoing after the pandemic. All this possibility, all this imagination, innovation, daringness, to break boundaries, redefine conventions … just how many infinite ways we still have to explore old masterworks, create new voices, just how can we reach our fellow humans and remind them, this is how vibrant the world feels beyond our Zoom frames?

Cheesy spiel over. A huge huge heartfelt thank you to the entire Opera McGill team for this creation and many more to come!

Opera McGill’s workshop for Labyrinth of Tears is well under way - so thrilling to see this work come to life and looking forward to showcasing the music in Spring 2022. More updates soon! Many collaborative performance projects are also in the works with UTAU2 and Duo Incarnadine. But for now, let’s look forward to pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins…<3

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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Update and thoughts on Pumpkin Magic (+Program Notes)
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Den Haag, Belfort, Vitznau & Basel, ...and Lisbon & Sintra (!)