Sierra Madre Playhouse Continues Lunar New Year Celebration with Program of Contemporary Classical Works

Sierra Madre Playhouse's Lunar New Year festival continues with “Lunar Harmonies,” an evocative and immersive evening of music featuring new classical works inspired by the moon presented by Asia / America New Music Institute (AANMI), on Saturday, February 1, at 7:30 pm. Six of the nine works spotlighted will be world, U.S. or West Coast premieres, with several of the composers also performing on the program.

Highlights include the world premiere of Niall Tarō's The Rabbit on the Moon for clarinet, flute, piano, violin, and cello. LA-native Tarō, a cellist, composer and orchestrator of Japanese descent on his mother's side, and of Scottish and Irish descent on his father's, is immersed in the worlds of both concert and commercial music.

AANMI also presents the U.S. premiere of The Eventide of April for cello and piano by highly regarded Chinese-born film and classical composer Weijun Chen, who describes himself “as a classically trained composer in this modern media world.” 

West Coast premieres include Dialogue for Flute and Violin by Korea's SunYoung “Sunny” Park, co-founder of AANMI who has been applauded for “combining Western music with Eastern sound, with a particularly Korean sound” (Korea Times), and the first movement of Mid-Autumn Sketches: Moon, a string quartet by Hong Kong-born, Grammy Award-nominated composer Angel Lam. Also receiving West Coast premieres are two works by Chad Cannon – 145 Waterloo Road for clarinet, cello, piano, and prerecorded audio, and Eclipse for bass flute, bass clarinet, piano, and string quartet. Cannon, whose recent work includes the score to the Oscar-winning Netflix documentary American Factory and HBO's Mind Over Murder, is known for music rooted in classical precision and counterpoint as well as multi-genre/cross-cultural collaborations.

Additional repertoire includes Tokyo-born composer Karen Tanaka's L'Éternité for violin and pre-recorded audio, commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music in London for its 200th Anniversary in 2021, and Deer Friend for flute, violin, and cello by Nicky Sohn, whose music is characterized by jazz-inspired, rhythmically driven themes. Oscar Pan's Le Train for flute, violin, and cello, inspired by the holiday movie "The Polar Express,” caps the program.

Featured artists include violinists Stephanie Yu and Chad Cannon; cellist Niall Tarō; flutists Catherine Baker and Michael Matsuno; clarinetist Chris Stoutenborough; and pianist Hui Wu.

AANMI, based in Pasadena, promotes cultural exchange through performances that connect traditions, narratives, and contemporary experiences from both cultures.

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