"black sea, orange tree" album release!

Written By Tong Wang

2 weeks till album release! Read the full story here. It’s been a humbling project, almost 1 year in the making - exploring the lands of Turkey, meeting its generous and warm people, listening to their stories, their instruments, and collaborating with the wonderful Alice Ping Yee Ho to capture the sounds, fragrances, landscapes, and memories of my parent’s hometowns - Hunan and Heilongjiang.

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Leah Plave, cello; Tong Wang, piano
Leaf Music LPTW2023
Release Date: April 26, 2024

A reflection on heritage and nostalgia, Tong Wang and Leah Plave’s album, Black Sea, Orange Tree, tells the story of train rides through the Himalayas, ancient folk dances and rowdy bar fights, glittering golden temples, and the smell of tea leaves. Composer Fazil Say’s “Four Cities” and Alice Ping Yee Ho’s “Four Impressions of China” weave special techniques into lush melodies, at times beautifully transforming the cello and piano into traditional Turkish and Chinese instruments.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

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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