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May Flower Art Center

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MusicON Festival
Zhenmin Xu: Song of the Pipa

@yangjin_pipa @jokangpiano by @mayflowerartcenter

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19 hours ago

The 4th MusicON International Composition Competition
Category B | Under Age 19 Winner ($1,000):
Wang Ziyuan — Asynchronous Collapses

Musicians:
@suvan_agarwal @jokangpiano @young_clarinet @valbuena_david_ @getloosh @its.kcflute by @mayflowerartcenter

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3 days ago

The 4th MusicON International Composition Competition Category A | Ages 19 and Above, Winner: Maya Miro Johnson — Crepitus and Cavitations

Violin @yejiolin_pyun
Violin @sarasalomonviolin
Viola @carloswalkervla
Cello @clarxclxra
Conductor @young_clarinet by @mayflowerartcenter

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4 days ago

Rhapsody in Blue for Piano Four Hands
George Gershwin (1898–1937)
(arr. Taige Wang)

This piece was performed at the opening concert of the 2026 MusicON Festival, which also featured a solo recital by Taige Wang, MusicON’s first-ever Artist-in-Residence.

This video features an excerpt from Taige Wang’s arrangement of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for piano four hands, performed by Taige Wang and Andrew Huang. by @mayflowerartcenter

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7 days ago

📣 We are pleased to announce the official results of the 4th MusicON International Composition Competition:

Category A | Ages 19 and Above

Winner ($2,000)
Maya Miro Johnson — Crepitus and Cavitations

Honorable Mention ($500)
Hangzhong Lian — Contours de la mémoire
Honorable Mention ($500)
Daniel (Jingyang) Cui — 樗栎 (Chu-li)

Category B | Under Age 19
Winner ($1,000)
Wang Ziyuan — Asynchronous Collapses

We extend our sincere gratitude to Professor Wang Lu @wanglu.composer and Professor Felipe Lara @felipe_lara23 for their expertise, dedication, and thoughtful evaluation of the submissions. We would also like to thank all participating composers and performers for their contributions and support.

The guidelines for the 5th MusicON International Composition Competition will be announced in March 2027. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

https://www.musiconchamberorchestra.org/4th-moicc-winners by @mayflowerartcenter

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10 days ago

Program Note for “Dawn on a Marketplace”—— Lucy Chen

Dawn on a Marketplace is inspired by my visual and olfactory experiences in various marketplaces around the world—China’s steaming food stalls, Morocco’s narrow, sandy alleys, Seattle’s fresh cider and fish at Pike Place Market... I’m fascinated by how these hubs of human activity come alive with the sunrise, representing the same love for trade, barter, and sharing that humans have exercised since our beginning.

The beginning of my piece is calm and more monophonic, illustrating the lack of human voices and emulating the serenity in the time just before the sun rises and cities awaken. The chatter of instruments slowly grows, ebbing and flowing. Eventually, dawn breaks and the market comes alive, with its commotion represented by Vibraphone glissandos, violin pizzicatos, and fast flute runs. The piece ends loudly and excitedly, representing the irreplaceable and timeless nature of markets in our societies.

This work will be premiered on October 3 at 4:00 PM at The Blanc in New York City. We warmly invite everyone who is interested to join us and celebrate with Lucy the premiere of this highly anticipated new work. by @mayflowerartcenter

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13 days ago

Program Note for “幽音 You Yin”——Sofia Jen Ouyang

This piece is titled You Yin (幽音), from two Chinese words: yin (音), meaning sound or tone, and you (幽), which evokes something hidden, distant, or dimly perceptible. The piece centers on this notion of you: something that is not fully present or immediately visible, yet leaves traces of its presence behind.
The music begins in the lowest register of the guzheng, as though something were buried beneath the surface of these deep, resonant sounds. From this obscured space, the music gradually blossoms.

This work will be premiered on October 4 at 5:00 PM at The Blanc in New York City. We warmly invite everyone who is interested to join us and celebrate with Sofia the premiere of this highly anticipated new work. by @mayflowerartcenter

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15 days ago

Program Note for “Light falling into blue”——Huihui Cheng

Through the interplay of harmony and timbre, alongside the recurring descending arpeggio motif, the work creates a continuous and fluid sense of falling, drawing the listener into a hazy blue space.

Blue represents both melancholy and mystery, while also embodying tranquillity and dreamlike wonder. The music continually moves between falling and rising, at times warm, at times cold and austere; its emotional landscape remains ever-changing and elusive.

The descending arpeggios flow like slowly moving water, taking on varied textures and spatial qualities through the interplay of different harmonies and timbres. Falling is not simply a singular descent, but a process of continuous immersion and transformation.

This creates an irresistible sense of immersion, as though one is continually falling through blue, only to be lifted by a warm light in certain moments. In this way, the music unfolds a vivid soundscape suspended between reality and dream, between tranquillity and unease.

This work will be premiered on October 4 at 5:00 PM at The Blanc in New York City. We warmly invite everyone who is interested to join us and celebrate this highly anticipated new work. by @mayflowerartcenter

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15 days ago

Program Note for “You are all so far away”——Aidan Gold

We’re all so close, and I can’t move without bumping into one of you. I suppose that’s natural being crammed together in a big city like this. Looking back, maybe that’s what I hated the most about it, ironically. Everyone is only a half step away, so you can reach them at any time. Yay voice leading!
Now we’ve each moved a step apart – we made a third! We have a bit more room now to do our own thing, and it’s still pretty easy to cross a third. But now it’s a fourth. A fifth, then a sixth. The gulf is getting so wide. I keep crossing back and forth, but it’s harder each time. It sounds more and more awkward. It takes more effort, more money, more time.
I want to dissolve back to my half step, where we were all in the same place. Our instruments would melt into voices – our own distinct voices, yet somehow all so similar. These voices would echo in an empty room – but it’s not empty? There are so many people here. I hope they join me. They are all just so far away – can anyone actually hear me anymore?

This work will be premiered on October 4 at 5:00 PM at The Blanc in New York City. We warmly invite everyone who is interested to join us and celebrate with Aidan the premiere of this highly anticipated new work. by @mayflowerartcenter

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15 days ago

Program Note for “Meditation on Song and Structure”——Sami SEIF

In 2026. The work took shape in part during a residency at Millay Arts, whose gift of time, space, and artistic community was invaluable to its creation.
The title is borrowed from Charles Wright’s poem “Meditation on Song and Structure” from Black Zodiac (1997), particularly the lines:
“Cardinal, exhale my sins,
　　　　　　　　　help me to lie low and leave out,
Remind me that vision is singular, that excess
Is regress, that more than enough is too much, that
　　　　　　　　　compression is all.”
While composing Meditation on Song and Structure, I found myself returning repeatedly to the hymns of the Beth Gazo, the central repertory of the Maronite Church, my own liturgical tradition. Rather than quoting specific melodies, the work inhabits the sound world of this tradition: its contemplative pacing, fluid sense of time, and the subtle heterophonic textures that emerge when multiple voices ornament a shared melodic idea. My friends have told me that hearing this music helps them better understand mine.
Charles Wright‘s poem and the hymns of the Beth Gazo came together in unexpected ways in my mind. Both suggest that expression can arise through restraint rather than accumulation, that clarity often emerges by leaving things unsaid. Meditation on Song and Structure reflects this shared sensibility, unfolding as a sequence of quiet transformations in which melody, texture, and timbre are allowed to breathe, linger, and gradually reveal themselves.

This work will be premiered on October 4 at 5:00 PM at The Blanc in New York City. We warmly invite everyone who is interested to join us and celebrate with Sami the premiere of this highly anticipated new work. by @mayflowerartcenter

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15 days ago

Program Note for ”On the Outskirts “——Qianchen LU

While composing On the Outskirts, I imagined a remote place: broad expanses of yellowing grass, a boundless sky, and clouds slowly darkening. The low hum of the city carries from afar, while a faint song drifts through the air. A figure stands amid this landscape, watching, listening, and sensing all that slowly unfolds around them. At first, sound events remain separate, then gradually converge, eventually settling into cycles. Attention shifts from wandering to focus, dissolving in repetition as the music approaches silence. The landscape remains almost still, yet the organization of sound continues to change, and with it, the way of listening.

This work will be premiered on October 3 at 6:00 PM at The Blanc in New York City. We warmly invite everyone who is interested to join us and celebrate with Qianchen the premiere of this highly anticipated new work. by @mayflowerartcenter

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16 days ago

It is a great honor to invite Wang lu @wanglu.composer , Professor of Brown University, as a judge for the 2026 MusicON Composition Competition.

We welcome friends to join us at the concert and listen to new music together with Professor Wang Lu! @musicon_nyc by @mayflowerartcenter

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16 days ago