Between Friends and Family
With their programme “Between Friends and Family,” Cheng² Duo explores the relationships between generations of composers across cultures and centuries, celebrating the friendships and admiration they inspired. The first half juxtaposes two revolutionaries of their time: Dinuk Wijeratne and Ludwig van Beethoven. Wijeratne, who fuses elements of Indian and Middle Eastern music in his compositions, was inspired by Beethoven’s 3rd cello sonata to write his JUNO-nominated work, Portrait of an Imaginary Sibling; meanwhile, Beethoven blazed the trail for future composers, being the first to write sonatas for cello and piano that treated both instruments as equals. The brother-and-sister duo then takes us to Paris in the 1910s – the ultimate melting pot of culture in the world – where musicians, painters, poets, writers, and choreographers gathered regularly to exchange ideas. Claude Debussy was a central figure in that musical scene, which included his close friends Manuel de Falla and Igor Stravinsky. Revel in the unique musical soundworlds each composer has to offer with their distinct and powerful voices and witness the influence that endearment and adoration create in these classical masterworks!
Bryan Cheng, cello; Silvie Cheng, piano
PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 3, Op. 69
Dinuk Wijeratne: Portrait of an Imaginary Sibling
– Intermission –
Manuel de Falla: Siete canciones populares españolas
Claude Debussy: Cello Sonata, L. 135
Igor Stravinsky: Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano
Program subject to change
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Cheng² Duo Biography
Rooted by a sibling bond transcending the familial, the Cheng² Duo (pronounced Cheng Squared Duo) transfixes listeners through its impassioned expressivity and contagious joy. Critics have hailed their performances as “brilliant” (The Sunday Times, UK), “truly exhilarating” (The WholeNote, Canada), and “absolutely captivating…through a tremendous mastery of their instruments” (Pizzicato Magazine, Luxembourg).
Cellist Bryan Cheng, prizewinner of the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition and Verbier Festival’s coveted Prix Yves Paternot, and pianist Silvie Cheng, 2022-23 Cecilia Concerts Musician-in-Residence and National Arts Club Artist Fellow, have been making music together for nearly their entire lives. Since officially forming the Cheng² Duo at their 2011 Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut, their artistry has left lasting impressions across the globe, with extensive tours to illustrious concert halls and international festivals throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa.
In the vanguard of creative programming, Bryan and Silvie are equally committed to presenting traditional masterworks, rediscovering neglected repertoire, and championing the music of their time. Since 2013, they have commissioned and arranged 15 new works and curated cross-disciplinary concert experiences that meld classical and contemporary music with jazz, poetry, and visual/media arts. World-class collaborative partners have included photographer and cinematographer Edward Burtynsky, Mercury Films, and multimedia studio Normal.
Cheng² Duo has released four critically acclaimed albums on the Canadian label Centrediscs and the German label Audite: Portrait (2023), Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del Fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016). Born in Ottawa and Tokyo to Chinese parents, Bryan and Silvie are proud Canadians currently based in Berlin and New York City. For more information, follow @Cheng2Duo on social media.
