Towards the Flame: In Praise of Dark Places

Written By Tong Wang

“Towards the Flame” is a program that is incredibly personal. The emotions, stories, and gravitas of these pieces span a decade of ups and downs - from deep despair, grief, and pain to moments of tenderness, courage, warmth, and ultimately: if not tiny triumphs, then, a constantly renewing vulnerability, resilience, and hope. That’s what the flame is in this program. It’s the light within us when the darkness sets in.

However, this is not a concert that simply praises love and light. It also praises the dark. It witnesses pain and grief. 

I like the cold. And I like the dark. Or rather, perhaps, I learn to need them. I need the void and emptiness and silence just as much as I need the heat and fire and luminous light. These places are profoundly necessary for us to turn inwards, to rest, to find solace and solidarity. Darkness is necessary for light. Silence is necessary for music.  

During these dark, cold winter months - I hope to share the power of this music to simply emote us, to allow us to feel just what we feel, and to move through these emotions together. That’s the power of collective experience - to connect us to ourselves, to each other, and the world around us. To have our struggles feel heard, understood, and shared.

“Darkness isn't just absence but a vital space for healing, creativity, navigation, and finding inner strength, making light more profound when it appears.”

As always, it’s a humbling privilege. I look forward to hearing you soon.

🤍🔥❄️

王通

Presented by:

Debut Atlantic @debutatlantic

Feb 6 Antigonish Performing Arts Series @antigonish.performing.arts

Feb 7 Dartmouth Community Concert Association

@dartmouthocca

Feb 8 King’s Theatre, Annapolis Royal @kings.theatre

Feb 11 Hear Here Society, Yarmouth

Feb 14 Marigold Cultural Centre (Concert will be held at St.

Andrew’s United Church, Truro) @marigoldcentre

Feb 18 Lawrence O’Brien Arts Centre @theloac

Feb 20 Musique Royale @musiqueroyale

Feb 22 Sunday Music in the Garden Room

#TowardsTheFlame #TongWang #DebutAtlantic #LiveMusic #AtlanticCanada



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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NEC Piano Seminar Presentation "Forging Our Own Paths"