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Spotlight Series: Prepared Piano

Welcome to our first Spotlight Series concert where we go in depth with a musician and composer to learn more about their corner of the art form! 

A Quick Intro to the Prepared Piano →

The Prepared Piano is the name given to Pianos that have added "hardware" to the instrument, thus yielding special percussive sounds. This technique is being utilized more and more in contemporary works in order to explore new sound worlds, but it has existed for a long time, even in Mozart! 

Program

Black Earth

I expected for many people to be real friends,

I expected for many people to be real friends,

My faithful beloved is black soil,

I wandered around with no end, I got tired for nothing,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

 

I dedicated myself to such beautiful ones,

I didn't see any loyalty, I didn't find any use,

I had everything I wanted from the soil (Earth),

My faithful beloved is black soil.

It gave sheep, it gave lamb, it gave milk,

It gave food, it gave bread, it gave meat,

When you didn't peck up the ground, it gave less,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

I cut it open with a pickaxe,

I tore its face with my hands, with my nails,

It again welcomed me with roses,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

As I tortured it, it used to smile at me,

There is no lie in this, everyone saw it,

I gave one seed, it gave me four fields in return,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

If I look up in the sky, I can breathe,

If I look down to the earth, I have the prayers of others,

Where will I stay if I leave it,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

f you have a wish ask it from God by prayer,

Don't go away from the soil to get your wish,

Generosity is given to the soil by God,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

If you search for truth, here is a clear point,

God is close to people and people are close to God,

The secret treasure of God is within the soil,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

Soil is repairing all the mistakes we have,

It heals my wounds like a medicine,

It is waiting for me with open arms,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

Whom ever learns this secret,

Will leave an immortal wonder behind for the world,

A day comes when it hugs us deeply,

My faithful beloved is black soil.

About Tin Yi Chelsea Wong

Pianist Tin Yi Chelsea Wong has taken a wide variety of concert stages. From Wienersaal in Salzburg and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, to unconventional yet intimate GroupMuses, and Airbnb concert series, her programming blends classical and contemporary repertoire. Her performances at San Francisco Botanical Garden “Flower Piano” paired Crumb’s Makrokosmos II with Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, and Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor for piano 4 hands with Novak’s Rustica Musa II. In her Ross McKee Foundation concert, she presented Brahms’ Bach Chaconne for Left Hand with Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom. 

An advocate of contemporary music, Tin Yi Chelsea Wong is a founding member of contemporary vocal ensemble Mouthscape Choir. She premiered Ilya Demutsky’s Skomoroshina, commissioned through the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Hoefer Prize, choreographed and performed at San Francisco Ballet; other premieres include Lukas Janata’s Echi, Ryan Brown’s Mortal Lessons, and numerous new works. Fluent in free improvisation and focusing on extended techniques, Tin Yi Chelsea Wong invented the Harmonic Capo to expand the potential of the instrument. Her current project is to advance the prototype, while seeking collaborations and commissioning composers to create new possibilities for the piano repertoire. 

Tin Yi Chelsea Wong served as a faculty member at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, while studying with Alan Feinberg. She graduated from SFCM with a Master’s degree and the President’s award, studying in the studios of Yoshikazu Nagai and Paul Hersh, and received her Bachelor degree from The Boston Conservatory (magna cumme laude) under the guidance of Ya-Fei Chuang. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys collecting rare succulents, preparing 10 person+ feasts, boardgames, and rock climbing. She is also a proud support of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement. 
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Acknowledgments & Support

Foundations & Grants

Charles N. Felton & Charlotte Ashley Felton Endowment

Myriam Weinstein Charitable Fund

William Meyer Foundation

Bill Graham Memorial Foundation 

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

Hapsburg Circle

Dr. Bing Liem

Felicia Su

Rev. Davidson Bidwell Waite & Edwin Waite

Maecenas Circle

Tony David and Kaz Zemanek

Albert Yeh & Haerang Lee

Dr. George Charles Grosscup III and Rose Ann York

Ian Sima

Linda & Brian Chrisman

Benefactors of the Arts

Jennifer Jolliffe​

Harold Jacobsohn

Gail Cornwall-Feeley & Brian Feeley

Patrons of the Arts

Peter Rosenfeld & Dr. Carla Golden

Susan & Jeff Froyd

John Dickerman

Shipra Kayan

James & Teresa Agate

Udi & Guy Ledergor

Howard Robbins and Linda Kardos

Kaye Reeves

Kelly Boyce

Patricia Finson

Edward Pizzi

Jenefer Bickers

Tom O'Brien

José Vargas and Damira Keagy-Hadzic

Barbara Sommers

Liv Sridhar

Doug & Betch Murray

Gary Koolik

Larry Anderson

Elijah Yang

Julie Valenzuela

Karen Wang

Lionel Metz

Ana Elsner

Aarifa Jwaji

Tammy Chang & Steven Yukl

Dr. Jean Ahn

Lorena Honorato Moreira

Arlene Hajinlian

Eric Hillenbrand

Janet Vennari

Leora Benioff 

Patricia Smith

Dr. Kreigh Moulton

Gail Baugh & Jim Warshell

Madeline & Daniel Shellhouse

Piotr Stancyzk

Robert Neal 

Our Next Spotlight Concert is in June! 

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