Cocoon

Mindy Meng Wang is a guzheng (Chinese string instrument) virtuoso and part of a significant movement of Chinese musicians redefining and reinvigorating their musical traditions.

Cocoon is Mindy Meng Wang’s first major music composition to feature guzheng as part of a chamber orchestra.

This concert traces her upbringing in Lanzhou, China (along the famous Silk Road) – beginning with the gentle traditions of the guzheng – to the avant-garde music scene in London, and her arrival in Australia in 2014.

Mindy Meng Wang has composed for a chamber formation that includes violin, contra bass, electronics, wind, and percussion. This is to create delicate textures expressing both a yearning for home and the restless urge to travel and discover the new.

Cocoon was presented as part of Meeting Points, a triple bill of music performances that break down barriers between cultures, genres, and disciplines. They feature artists from Japan, South Korea, China, and Arnhem Land with Australia’s leading contemporary music ensemble, the Australian Art Orchestra. Meeting Points brings together vastly different Asian and Australian musical styles into an afternoon-long world premiere music event exclusive to OzAsia Festival.

PERFORMANCES

OzAsia Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre: Space Theatre, Saturday 30 September, 4:00pm

Arts Centre Melbourne December 16th 2017

CREATIVE TEAM

Curator of Meeting Points: Peter Knight

Composer: Mindy Meng Wang

Arrangment, orchestration, saxophone, electronics: Jem Savage
Violin: Lizzy Welsh
Cello: Hilary Kleinig
Viola: Anna Webb
Contra bass: Sam Pankhurst
Percussion: Matthias Schack-Arnott
Bass trombone, flute, buchla: Adrian Sherriff