NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University faculty member Chialing Hsieh will present a lecture/recital “Songs from the Motherland: Cultural Heritage in Four Works for Viola and Piano by Women Composers” on Sunday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m. The lecture/recital will be livestreamed only at capa.nsula.edu/livestream.
Hsieh will lecture and play piano. She will be joined by guest artist Hsiaopei Lee of the University of Southern Mississippi on viola. Guest lecturer Chia-Yu Hsu, a composer, who will hold a question and answer session at the end of the program for NSU students to talk about a career path and compositional ideas.
The lecture/recital will feature four contemporary works by four women composers, Gabriela Lena Frank, Jean Ahn, Beatriz Lockhart and Hsu. The compositions feature the spirit and aesthetics of Peru, Korea, Uruguay and Taiwan.
An avid performer of contemporary music, pianist Chialing Hsieh is devoted to promoting new piano solo and chamber works. Hsieh has been a featured pianist on seven CD’s for the Centaur, Innova, Enharmonic, and Ballpark record labels. Hsieh has received several grants to promote new American music, including an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
A sought after collaborative pianist, Hsieh has performed with members of the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Memphis. She has performed with the faculty of Julliard, Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, University of Cincinnati, and Arizona State University. She joined NSU’s faculty in 2016.
Lee joined the string faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall of 2005. She has previously taught viola and chamber music at the Starling String Project, University of Cincinnati.
As a recitalist, Lee has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Highlights of recent performances include solo appearances with the Meridian Symphony Orchestra and the USM Symphony Orchestra, a solo performance at a conference of the Southern Chapter of the College Music Society, and a series of recitals featuring contemporary viola music in several states. She is currently the principal violist of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Banciao, Taiwan, Hsu is an active composer of contemporary concert music. Hsu has been interested in deriving inspirations from different materials, such as poems, myths, and images. Particularly, however, it is the combination of Chinese elements and western techniques that is a hallmark of her music.
Hsu’s music has been recognized with awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Zodiac trio, Kaleidoscopes and Elevate ensembles, the Copland House, IAWM, Suzanne and Lee Ettelson Composer’s Awards, among others.
Her orchestral works have been performed by the London Sinfonietta, the Detroit, the San Francisco, the Spokane, the Toledo symphony orchestras, the Nashville Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and the National Symphony
Orchestra in Taiwan.
