Performance: A Meditation on Solidarity and Hope

Asia Society Triennial composer-in-residence Huang Ruo and his wife, chamber musician Shelley Monroe Huang, jointly composed this piece of music for piano and bassoon. In their own words, this work is "not only an imaginative landscape, but also a state of mind. A continuous drone, oscillating in the low register on the piano, is played only by the pianist’s left hand. The drone provides a wind-like sonority as the background. In the foreground, a cursive bassoon line moves up and down throughout the entire range of the instrument."

This special performance, a meditation on unity and hope in a difficult year that has seen a global pandemic and redoubled efforts campaigning for racial justice and Black Lives Matter, was introduced by Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D., executive chair of the Asia Society Triennial. Following the performance, Huang Ruo joined Ken Tan, executive director of global artistic programs and deputy director of the Asia Society Museum for a conversation on his experiences in COVID-19 lockdown, creative inspiration, the specter of anti-Asian racism, and more. The program concluded with remarks by Boon Hui Tan, Asia Society Triennial artistic director, vice president of global artistic programs, and Asia Society Museum director.