Asian Moon Festival Interactive Concert Sept. 9
The Asian Moon Festival is one of the major festivals in Asia honoring family, friends, and the community.
On Monday, Sept. 9, the Asian Studies Program in conjunction with Asia Club and Asian Studies Honor Society at The University of Scranton, will celebrate the 2019 festival with the renowned New Asia Chamber Music Society, while tasting tea/coffee and sampling Asian moon cake. This interactive concert featuring East-West music and an educational workshop will take place in the fifth-floor Rose Room of Brennan Hall from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Hailed by New York Concert Reviews as “an impressively organized and professional group… comprised of many young and gifted players”, the New Asia Chamber Music Society was founded in 2010 by an entrepreneurial group of young Asian-American virtuosi. Propelled by a shared passion for classical chamber music performance, the members are prize winners of world-renowned international competitions, graduates from America’s most prestigious music schools, including The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute, and appear regularly on major stages across the globe. Based in New York City, New Asia Chamber Music Society is committed to bringing audiences exciting chamber music performances of the highest caliber and innovation. By delving into the giants of traditional chamber music repertoire, cultivating new voices of contemporary composers that meld elements of Western and Eastern cultures, and collaborating with a broad network of art organizations – the New Asia Chamber Music Society is creating a trifecta of innovation to enable new concert-going experiences for the audience. This exciting young collective also seeks to engage its technologically wired peers around the world with its lively social media presence, fostering a more interactive and social environment for chamber music performance and presentation.
The New Asia Chamber Music Society gave their sold out inaugural performance at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2011, and have since performed in New York City’s major concert venues including Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the 2015-2016 season, the ensemble toured Taiwan, performing at venues across the country including Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, and teaching masterclasses at the National Taiwan Normal University and Tainan National University of Arts.
The New Asia Chamber Music Society was the recipient of the 2016 Huang-Yu-Ting Memorial Award and New Music USA’s project grant.
In an effort to broaden the chamber music going community, New Asia Chamber Music Society has launched two new series, the House Salon Concerts and the Between The Bars Series. These events offer the audience a more intimate, intellectually stimulating and social experience. Ranging from informal and interactive workshop style talks given by musicians on the intricacies and beauty of chamber music informed by decades of experience – to behind-the-scenes perspectives of the chamber music life in performance and preparation. In 2018, they continued presenting monthly installations of the House Salon Concerts and Between The Bars Series, as well as making its debut appearance at the Hudson River Performing Arts Center in Houston.
Partnering with other arts organizations to create innovative new works and concert experiences, New Asia Chamber Music Society recently collaborated with the Peridance Contemporary Dance Company to premiere Igal Perry’s ballet, Dia-Mono-Logues. They collaborated with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company performing Huang Ro’s string quartet Crosscurrent at New Jersey Performing Arts Center. They also collaborated in multiple appearances with tango bandoneonist/composer JP Jofre, as well as partnering with Flushing Town Hall for its Chinese New Year Temple Bazzar and annual fundraiser.
For more information or questions about the Moon Festival Interactive Concert, contact Ann A. Pang-White, Ph.D., director of Asian Studies and professor of philosophy at the University, at ann.pang-white@scranton.edu or 570-941-6312.