One of the most exciting voices in New Music... Liang is an important musical philosopher, coming into mature expression.

                - Brian Morton, The Wire (UK)                                                            More Reviews                                                                                   
NEWS
Inheritance
Image by Ligia Bouton


The world premiere of Inheritance, a new chamber opera by Lei Liang, was described as "unusually powerful" (New Music Box), "groundbreaking," "unique and compelling" (San Diego Union Tribune)

Inheritance revolves around the bizarre life of Sarah Winchester, the eccentric widow and heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. According to popular belief, Winchester imprisoned herself in her labyrinth-like home to seek refuge from the spirits of those killed by the same weapons whose manufacture and sale gave her a life of indescribable wealth. With music by composer Lei Liang and libretto by poet Matt Donovan, Inheritance juxtaposes elements of Winchester’s biography with contemporary events in a work that explores America’s deeply complex relationship with guns. Produced by Susan Narucki, the world premiere performances of Inheritance are led by conductor Steven Schick with direction by Cara Consilvio and production design is by visual artist Ligia Bouton. Susan Narucki creates the title role of Sarah Winchester. Watch a short trailer, or read more about the opera here.

Photo credit Alex Matthews
Photo by Alex Matthews
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/arts/music/for-composer-lei-liang-technology-brings-a-different-transcendence.html?_r=0
Photo by Hiroko Masuike/
The New York Times 

    

Lei Liang Harvard Magazine
Photo by 
Alex Matthews 

    
      

FEATURED WORK: Verge
 “A highlight [of New York Philharmonic's Contact!] was Lei Liang's 'Verge' for 18 strings. With musicians divided into four sections arranged spatially across the stage, Liang builds on the concept of lines converging and diverging across several sections.” 
-Brian Wise, The Strad


  • March 4, 2019: Boston, MA
    Five Seasons     (pipa and string quartet), Yihan Chen, pipa, Carpe Diem String Quartet, First Monday Series, Lawrence Lesser, Artistic Director, Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music

  • March 24, 2019: Blue Hill, ME
    Gobi Gloria     (string quartet), Ying Quartet, First Congressional Church of Blue Hill

  • April 15-17, 2019: Greenville, NC
    Residency,     East Carolina University

  • April 16, 2019: Shanghai, China
    Gobi Gloria     (string quartet), Concert Hall, Tongji University

  • April 27, 2019: Haverford, PA
    Garden Eight (piano solo), Qing Jiang, piano, Quadrangle Saturday Night Series, The Quadrangle

  • April 27, 2019: Haverford, PA
    Feng (cello solo), Gwen Krosnick, Quadrangle Saturday Night Series, The Quadrangle

  • April 27, 2019: Haverford, PA
    Parts for a Floating Space (version for cello and piano), Gwen Krosnick, Qing Jiang, piano, Quadrangle Saturday Night Series, The Quadrangle

  • April 28, 2019: Chestertown, MD
    Garden Eight (piano solo), Qing Jiang, piano, Resonance Concert Series, St. Paul's Church Chestertown

  • April 28, 2019: Chestertown, MD
    Feng (cello solo), Gwen Krosnick, Resonance Concert Series, St. Paul's Church Chestertown

  • April 28, 2019: Chestertown, MD
    Parts for a Floating Space (version for cello and piano), Gwen Krosnick, Qing Jiang, piano, Resonance Concert Series, St. Paul's Church     Chesterton

  • May 7-28, 2019: Australia
    Will you come to my dream?     (piano duet), ZOFO

  • May 16, 2019: Guangzhou, China
    Feng (cello solo),     Yijia Fang, cello, Xinghai Chamber Music Hall, Xinghai Conservatory of Music
  • June 3-9, 2019: Buffalo, NY
    Faculty Composer, June-in-Buffalo, University of Buffalo

  • June 5, 2019: Buffalo, NY
    Serashi Fragments (string quartet), Mivos Quartet, June-in-Buffalo, University of Buffalo

  • June 7, 2019: Buffalo, NY
    My Windows (piano solo), Eric Huebner, piano, June-in-Buffalo, University of Buffalo

  • June 8, 2019: Buffalo, NY
    Aural Hypothesis (sextet), Ensemble Dal Niente, June-in-Buffalo, University of Buffalo

  • June 18, 2019: Boston, MA
    Luminous (chamber concerto of contrabass), Mark Dresser, bass solo, Stephen Drury, conductor, Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice, New England Conservatory of Music

  • July 26, 2019: Piedmont, CA
    Gobi Gloria (string quartet), Formosa Quartet, Piedmont Chamber Music Festival, Piedmont Center for the Arts


Verge

"The performances are, without exception, stellar. But they’d have to be: Lei Liang’s scores seem to demand one delicately constructed dramatic gesture after another. Stephen Drury’s Callithumpian Consort scintillates in the brilliantly colored Aural Hypothesis for small ensemble, and Five Seasons stars Wu Man, rockstar of the lute-like Chinese pipa, alongside the Shanghai Quartet. Passionately, but precisely, these interpreters make a powerful case for Lei Liang as a composer with the ears and the ingenuity to construct a boundless, and boundlessly thrilling, new music.”

     - Daniel Stephen Johnson, New York Public Radio WQXR Q2, Music Album of the Week (Dec. 24, 2012)

Lei Liang presently enjoys a growing reputation as one of the country’s most energizing young composers.

     - David Denton, David’s Review Corner

Lei Liang’s Verge is a gripping and engaging work for 18 solo strings, which are taken full advantage of in their timbre and potential for sound. The music here stands out among many new records for its vitality and directness… 

     -George Adams, American Record Guide, May 2013