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Music is just one of the many ways in which we can discover new histories, build empathy for one another and learn about various cultures through a unique lens. To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, four Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians have recommended works by AAPI composers to explore. Furthermore, these works stand as testaments to the enduring cultural contributions of AAPI artists.
Li-Kuo Chang, acting principal viola
Li-Kuo Chang has appeared with many orchestras as a soloist, including the Chicago Symphony, and is an active chamber music performer, collaborating with many renowned artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach and Pinchas Zukerman. Chang joined the CSO as assistant principal viola in 1988, when he was appointed by Sir Georg Solti to the post. He has been acting principal since 2019.
Chang’s first pick is the Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto, written by Chinese composers Chen Gang and He Zhanhao. One of the most famous Chinese works of classical music, the piece is based on a Chinese folk legend about a tragic romance. The work was written in 1959 while Chen Gang and He Zhanhao were students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. While the concerto is in one movement, it’s broken up into seven distinct sections. A full recording of the piece, performed by violinist Gil Shaham with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lan Shui, is featured in the video below.
Chang’s next picks are three folk songs arranged by Chinese-American composer Chen Yi. The works are featured on the vocal group Chanticleer’s album “Wondrous Love (A World Folk Song Collection)” (1997), a recording that Chang considers among his life-long favorites.
Below, you can hear Chanticleer’s recording of “Molihua,” a popular Chinese folk song arranged by Chen Yi. The other two works she arranged, “Fenyang Ge” (also a traditional Chinese folk song) and “Diu Diu Deng” (a Taiwanese folk song) are also available on YouTube. Chang pointed out that Chen herself actually coached the singers. “The musicians’ pronunciations were absolutely meticulous and amazing,” he said.
Chang’s final selection has been part of his own professional career — he premiered it in Chicago in 1991. Written by Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng, who, like Chang, hails from Shanghai, “The Stream Flows” is an introspective, tender piece for solo viola. It’s based on a folk song from southern China. In this work, the viola is meant to imitate the sound of a female Chinese folk singer.
Sheng’s works have been widely commissioned and performed by many of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Sando Shia, violin
A native of Wuhan, China, Sando Shia was born into a musical family and studied both piano and violin from an early age. She started at Beijing’s Central Conservatory when she was only 12 years old and joined the Central Ballet Company of China (Beijing) at 19 as its solo violinist, touring with the ensemble throughout China and Europe. In 1981, she won the Josef Gingold Award at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival and went on to study with Jascha Heifetz at the University of Southern California, who described Shia as “extremely talented” and “very important to [his] class.” Shia joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1989, at the invitation of Sir Georg Solti.
Shia’s picks include works by two composers also of Chinese heritage: Zhou Long and Chen Yi.
Born in Beijing, China, in 1953, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long is perhaps best known for his body of work that combines musical elements of both the East and West, a reflection of his background. Zhou has composed many works, from stage and orchestral to vocal pieces and of course, chamber music — much of which have been influenced by his experience growing up in China’s countryside. Shia’s first pick by Zhou is an orchestral piece titled “The Rhyme of Taigu,” performed here by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and led by conductor Lan Shui.
Shia’s second pick is a work for string quartet called “Eight Chinese Folk Songs,” performed below by the Shanghai Quartet. This work incorporates and draws on traditional music from across China.
Finally, the lively “Song of Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets” is a work for string quartet and orchestra, performed here by an ensemble made up of musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Silkroad Ensemble.
Shia’s second set of selections is from Chinese-American composer Chen Yi, known for transcending musical boundaries by blending Chinese and Western traditions in her work. Her compositions (also recommended by other CSO musicians surveyed for this article) have been performed by soloists such as Yehudi Menuhin and Yo-Yo Ma; she has been commissioned to write pieces for ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony and many others. Chen also considers herself a cultural ambassador, as she’s introduced a huge number of new music and musicians themselves from the East to the West via various education exchange programs and initiatives.
The first work that Shia highlighted by Chen is “Memory” for solo violin, performed here by Patrick Yim. The work commemorates the passing of Chen’s teacher, Professor Lin Yaoji. Chen writes in the work’s program notes to her mentor, “I wish you could hear the tune in my Memory, which sounds like my painful cry out of your name in our Cantonese dialect. I expressed my deep sorrow in the music, to remember your fatherly mentorship."
Another work for a solo instrument, Chen’s “Monologue,” composed in 1993, was written for clarinet. The monologue the piece depicts is based on the haunting reflections on the satire of the novella by early 20th-century Chinese author Lu Xun, a story that follows a crass, prideful character. The performance here is by clarinetist Andrew Lowy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Shia’s final pick is Chen’s “Chinese Rap” for solo violin and orchestra, performed here by violinist Yuhe Li and the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. Written in 2013, the piece is inspired by a form of Chinese folk musical storytelling called quyi that employs a mix of recitation and singing. This influence is reflected through moments of stark musical contrast that are purposefully juxtaposed and then smoothly connected.
Danny Lai, viola
Danny Lai was appointed to the CSO in 2014 by Music Director Riccardo Muti. He has performed around the world with many orchestras, including the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan and the Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland and won various competitions. He also is a frequent chamber music collaborator, playing with his CSO colleagues in ensembles such as the Civitas, the Chicago Chamber Musicians and Chicago Pro Musica.
As his first pick, Lai selected a work by Tan Dun, whom he describes as “probably the most well-known Chinese composer in the world.” Tan Dun’s compositions can be heard in concert halls everywhere, but is also prevalent throughout film and pop culture. While the music he most frequently creates has been described as “opera in the broadest cultural context,” he also has made significant contributions to new and experimental formats such as orchestral theater, organic music and multimedia extravaganzas.
“Growing up, it felt empowering to see a film like ’Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ achieve box-office success worldwide, including here in the United States, where I grew up,” Lai said. The film’s soundtrack, composed by Tan Dun, is “immediately accessible, memorable and beautiful. And I highly recommend listening to it or revisiting it for a nostalgic time.”
Lai’s next choice is from Toru Takemitsu, a Japanese composer and writer. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was born in 1930 in Japan but raised in China. Eventually conscripted into military service as a teenager, Takemitsu has spoken about the negative associations he had with traditional Japanese music for much of his life, and how it reminded him of war. Eventually, due to the influence of avant-garde composer John Cage, along with various other experiences, Takemitsu incorporated more of his Japanese background directly into his music. An article from The Guardian describes how Takemitsu’s “relationship with Western music and his native musical traditions show just how limiting are the categories of East and West.”
Takemitsu’s work is highly influenced by French composers Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. Lai describes Takemitsu’s music as equally rebellious and unconventional; a common identifier of his compositional style is his use of timbre to create unique soundscapes. “Being a viola player, I highly recommend a listen to A String Around Autumn, a beautiful viola concerto that does not hide its Debussy influence,” Lai said. The work is a single-movement concerto written in 1989, and its title is based on a poem by Japanese poet Makoto Ōoka.
American composer Kenji Bunch is Lai’s final selection for his round-up. Bunch is known for his work that transcends cultural or generational barriers, specifically music that forges empathic connections with listeners. He also draws upon his interest in history and the natural world to create music that appeals to a wide audience. Bunch’s ability to incorporate various influences is something that Lai particularly enjoys. One of his favorite Bunch works is Aspects of an Elephant: A Parable for Orchestra. The piece is inspired by the idea that differing perspectives can describe only a portion of an entire story. The idea is “a highly relevant metaphor for today’s world,” Lai said.
Yuan-Qing Yu, assistant concertmaster
Yuan-Qing Yu is an international award-winning violinist who frequently performs as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. A native of Shanghai, Yu has won awards at various international competitions, given numerous critically acclaimed performances as featured soloist and has collaborated with musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, Lang Lang and Yo-Yo Ma.
In 2011, Yu, along with colleagues from the CSO, founded Civitas Ensemble. The group aims to curate collaborative projects with local and international artists alike in order to bring music to communities with limited resources. Last year, the group recorded an album titled “Jin Yin,” which translates as “Golden Tone.” Featured on the recording, which was nominated for a Grammy, are what Yu describes as “five amazing works by five of my Chinese composer friends.” In this podcast Yu discusses the album and some of its featured works.
“It was amazing working with them [the composers] through this project and celebrating our culture through music,” Yu said.
Hailed by the Washington Post for his “extremely smart, colorful, delectable and kinetic” music, Chinese composer Lu Pei also has been praised for his works’ distinct and personal characteristics. His piece featured on “Jin Yin” is called “Scenes Through Window,” which uses minimalist rhythms of American music, as well as the folk traditions prevalent in south China. Alternatively vigorous and lyrical, the dynamism is reflective of his unique style and his ability to revitalize ancient folk music material creatively.
Composer Yao Chen is a native of China, and his work is deeply rooted in traditions of both the East and West, as well as in combinations of the two. His works span various genres, with film and theater being two specific influences of many. His work (in five parts) featured on “Jin Yin” is titled “Emanations of Tara,” which refers to a revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Mystical and rhapsodic, it was commissioned by and for Civitas.
Canadian composer Vivian Fung has been called “one of today’s most eclectic composers” by NPR. She’s well known for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into large-scale works — a reflection of her multicultural background. Fung has a deep interest in exploring culture through travel and research, something that has brought her from Cambodia to Southwest China, North Vietnam, Spain and Indonesia — all of which have been reflected in her music. Her piece on “Jin Yin” is titled “Birdsong,” and it’s a virtuosic duo for violin and piano that begins and ends with evocations of bird calls.
Zhou Long and Chen Yi contributed works to “Jin Yin” (available at the CSO’s Symphony Store) that were both specially arranged and transcribed for Civitas. Zhou’s piece is titled “Five Elements,” as it evokes metal, wood, water, fire and earth: the five elements commonly grouped together in Chinese philosophy. Chen’s work on “Jin Yin” is a serene and ethereal piece called “Night Thoughts,” which was inspired by a Tang Dynasty poem.
