Most recent performance:
Concert protesting budget cuts in the arts
March 23, 2025
La Grande Halle de la Villette
Paris, France
Mahler Symphony No. 1 (Titan) with the Orchestre Melo'dix
(Université Paris Nanterre)
January 26, 2023
Église Notre-Dame-du-Liban
Paris, France
Your Clouds are my Snow
Composed by Matthew Kaminski
Commissioned by Cheryl Zhang
Premiered July 15, 2022 in Silver Spring MD
Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms
Your Clouds are my Snow is about a person or superior figure, something that you cannot control, which causes stress, damage, and pain. That is represented by clouds. The snow is what you make out of it. Something beautiful, something you create on your own, something worth sharing. One of the outcomes of this is human connection. When you travel to a small town and visit for a couple days, you begin to learn pieces of their culture, their day-to-day activities, how they treat each other, and the qualities that make people who they are. You scrape the surface of a completely new life that you knew nothing about. I wish more people were vulnerable so more people could understand other people, understand more, and slip into the shoes of another person. The world is too big to live in your lane, and it is vital to understand our differences.
Postcards from Portland
Composed by Matthew Kaminski
Recorded by Cheryl Zhang in June 2020
Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms
Matthew and I met at the Brevard Music Center last summer, where I first heard his compositions and became fascinated by them. I performed one of his chamber pieces there (City of Tents), and subsequently asked him to write me a piece for my senior recital. Since my senior recital was not able to take place, Matthew and I decided to record this piece as a final project in lieu of the recital. From Matthew's performance notes: "This piece at its core is about simple themes like friendship- a long distance friendship. The piece opens with an atmospheric texture resembling tranquility and rain, which are two common themes I associate with Portland, my hometown. It later transitions to happier themes, which include memories, adventures, and a sense of home away from home. These emotions erupt into a cadenza-like passage for the flute, which represents a more melancholic mood that people experience when they miss someone or something meaningful to them." In these tumultuous and transformative times, I hope this piece can remind you of the beauty and simplicity of friendship and the people in your life who matter to you most.