Guest Artist/Faculty Recital
Matthew Lau, percussion with Stephen Ng, tenor
Ting Ting Wong,piano
Monday March 16, 2026
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre
Performing Arts Center
7:30PM
PROGRAM
“IDENTITY”
Cálculo Secreto (1994) ......................................................................................................................................José López López (b. 1956)
Video by Pascal Auger
Vermont Counterpoint (1982) ...................................................................................................................................Steve Reich (b. 1936)
Video by Cheryl Hui
Ritratti Surreali “Surreal Portraits” (2022).................................................................................................Massimo Lauricella (b. 1961)
Video by XUAN
I. Prisma Alato (Winged Prism)
II. Alter ego
III. Vib! Ràto! Ràtooo!
Gr@w£ix from Loops (2019).......................................................................................................................................Von Hansen (b. 1984)
Video by Becky Reid
Sonnets (2025)........................................................................................................................................................Robert Honstein (b. 1980)
I. Love, though for this you riddle me with darts
II. I think I should have loved you presently
III. I shall forget you presently, my dear
IV. Oh, my beloved, have you thought of this
V. If I should learn, in some quite casual way
VI. Only until this cigarette is ended
VII. Oh, think not I am faithful to a vow!
VIII. When I too long have looked upon your face
Please silence all cell phones and electronic devices.
Stephen Ng , tenor
Ting Ting Wong, piano
PROGRAM NOTES
IDENTITY is a 40 -minute multimedia program featuring custom cinematic visuals and electronics, showcasing the vibraphone’s versatility through iconic repertoire alongside new commissions. Throughout my artistic journey, I was often told to be the “Asian marimba pla yer” or an “accurate audition machine." I faced discrimination for performing pieces that challenged the status quo and heard repeatedly that a solo career was impossible unless it was jazz. IDENTITY manifests as a project of perseverance and resilience, embodying my journey as a queer person -of-color, challenging stereotypes and societal expectations. The program flows without pause and embraces a unique musical hybridity, merging generative visuals with Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint, magical realism with L opez’s Cálculo, and Spanish disco -pop with virtuosic riffs in my commission of Hansen’s Gr@w£ix. Lauricella’s Surreal Portraits blends Italian spectralism with striking visuals by XUAN. This is the world premiere of Eng’s flower of neglect written for Matt hew paying homage to his country music autoharp side. This experience transcends boundaries of genre, race, sexuality, and class as a queer Asian immigrant, I embody that truth. – Matthew Lau
Note for Honstein’s Sonnets
Ever since a quixotic beauty caught the eye of an itinerant, 14th century ex -priest, the sonnet has been to poetic expressions of love as bread is to butter. It is an almost protean form, something so innate that whether or not Petrarch fell for his Lauraa similar structure would surely have emerged in some other guise at nearly the same time. While the lan -guage and style of sonneteers continuously evolves, this timeless form has retained its grip on poetic minds for centuries. From Shakespeare and Donne to Rilke and Neruda, the sonnet persists as a deft expres-sion of human experience in all its vicissitudes. Into the pressure cooker of its compact formal apparatus, the complexity, ambiguity and chaos of humanity emerges reshaped and reborn into powerfully concise, crystalline poetic expression. Writing in the first half of the 20th century, Edna St. Vincent Millay vigorously takes up this tradition. At a time of high poetic modernism, Millay injects the ancient form with vitality and stylistic ingenuity. In her hands the sonnet feels fresh and urgent. The words are organic and vital, yet also surgically precise in their layered meaning, wit and sheer beauty. Millay’s sonnets are shifting and bold, fearlessly expressing a radically feminine perspective, wh ile at the same time gesturing to -wards universal themes of love and desire. In writing my piece, Sonnets, I primarily wanted to foreground Millay’s brilliant words. The poetry is so good, so captivating, direct and powerful that it seemed my job, as com-poser, was simply to provide a musical scaffolding for Millay’s candes -cent verse. To that end I’ve put together five songs that hopefully allow you to appreciate and be moved by these beautiful words. Sonnets was commissioned by the No Exit New Music Ensemble. It was premiered April 7, 2023 at SPACES in Ohio City, OH by Lauren Pearl, So-prano, and the No Exit New Music Ensemble.– Robert Honstein
GUEST ARTISTS BIOGRAPHY
Hailed by the Aspen Times for his “soulful and technically impressive solo” at his vibraphone concerto debut at the Aspen Music Festival, percussionist Dr. Matthew Lau performs a wide range of repertoire with an absolute commitment to communicate the meaning and essence of percussion music to its audience. As a queer Asian percussionist, Dr. Lau challenges the conventional narratives, subverts societal definitions, and works to change the traditional prescribed career path, with high -calibre impactful perfo rmances with a whimsical twist.
Matthew is the co-founder and artistic director of Hong Kong contemporary percussion group The Up:Strike Project, and is part of the duo Fisher/Lau Project. Matthew enjoys an international teaching & performing career, 2019–2025 engagements include appeara nces in universities, festivals and competitions in countries like USA, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, the UK, Italy, Canada, Portugal, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, and Russia. Matthew obtained his DMA in percussion performance from Stony Brook University under Edu ardo Leandro. He was awarded the coveted LAB Grant from the Boston Foundation in 2022. He also receives additional projects & touring grants from Mass Cultural Council, Passim Foundation, City of Boston Mayor’s Office, and Hong Kong Arts Development Counci l. He received the Award for New Artist at the 2018 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. He is currently on the Board of Advisor for The Percussive Arts Society, and the president for The Vibraphone Project Inc.
Dr. Lau is Premier Artist of Marimba One, Artist Endorser of Black Swamp Percussion, and Signature Artist of Encore/Salyers Mallets. In his spare time he is an avid yoga practitioner and believes proper alignment can get rid of certain soreness in percussi on playing. He is also a Level 1 Master Knitter from The Knitter’s Guild Association.
Ting Ting Wong is a highly regarded vocal coach and collaborative pianist based in Philadelphia. Known for her clarity, precision, and emotional depth, she has earned a reputation as a dynamic and versatile artist. Musical Americapraised her recent performances, noting her “nuanced pedaling and voicings [that] painted some of the richest backdrops.”
Ms. Wong currently serves on the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music and is a staff accompanist at The Academy of Vocal Arts. She is also Senior Artist -in-Residence and Collaborative Pianist for the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia. She has recently been appointed Worship and Arts director at First Presbyterian Church of Ambler. In addition, she collaborates regularly with singers at Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College, while maintaining an active private coaching studio.
Ms. Wong made her Kennedy Center debut in 2016 and performed with IlluminArts in 2019. Recent engagements include the 2022 Princeton Festival and faculty appointments at the Mediterranean Opera Studio & Festival. She also served as associate pianist for Otello (O22) with Opera Philadelphia and completed a national tour with Curtis on Tour in 2022, performing alongside bass -baritone Eric Owens.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ms. Wong holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance and a certificate in piano pedagogy from Carnegie Mellon University. She earned a second master’s degree in Piano Accompanying and Coaching from Temple University, where sh e studied with Lambert Orkis and Charles Abramovic. This summer, she returns to the Ravinia Steans Music Institute in Highland Park, Illinois, as collaborative pianist for the singer program.
TEXT FOR HONSTEIN’S SONNETS
Edna St. Vincent Millay - Selected Sonnets
I.
Love, though for this you riddle me with darts, And drag me at your chariot till I die, Oh, heavy prince! Oh, panderer of hearts! — Yet hear me tell how in their throats they lie Who shout you mighty: thick about my hair, Day in, day out, your ominous arrows purr, Who still am free, unto no querulous care A fool, and in no temple worshiper! I, that have bared me to your quiver’s fire, Lifted my face into its puny rain, Do wreathe you Impotent to Evoke Desire As you are Powerless to Elicit Pain! (Now will the god, for blasphemy so brave, Punish me, surely, with the shaft I crave!)
II.
I think I should have loved you presently, And given in earnest words I flung in jest; And lifted honest eyes for you to see, And caught your hand against my cheek and breast; And all my pretty follies flung aside That won you to me, and beneath your gaze, Naked of reticence and shorn of pride, Spread like a chart my little wicked ways. I, that had been to you, had you remained, But one more waking from a recurrent dream, Cherish no less the certain stakes I gained, And walk your memory’s halls, austere, supreme, A ghost in marble of a girl you knew Who would have loved you in a day or two.
III.
I shall forget you presently, my dear, So make the most of this, your little day, Your little month, your little half a year, Ere I forget, or die, or move away, And we are done forever; by and by I shall forget you, as I said, but now, If you entreat me with your loveliest lie I will protest you with my favourite vow. I would indeed that love were longer -lived, And oaths were not so brittle as they are, But so it is, and nature has contrived
To struggle on without a break thus far, Whether or not we find what we are seeking Is idle, biologically speaking.
IV.
Oh, my beloved, have you thought of this: How in the years to come unscrupulous Time, More cruel than Death, will tear you from my kiss, And make you old, and leave me in my prime? How you and I, who scale together yet A little while the sweet, immortal height No pilgrim may remember or forget, As sure as the world turns, some granite night Shall lie awake and know the gracious flame Gone out forever on the mutual stone; And call to mind that on the day you came I was a child, and you a hero grown? And the night pass, and the strange morning break Upon our anguish for each other’s sake!
V.
If I should learn, in some quite casual way, That you were gone, not to return again Read from the back-page of a paper, say, Held by a neighbor in a subway train, How at the corner of this avenue And such a street (so are the papers filled) A hurrying man who happened to be you At noon to-day had happened to be killed, I should not cry aloud —I could not cry Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place I should but watch the station lights rush by With a more careful interest on my face, Or raise my eyes and read with greater care Where to store furs and how to treat the hair.
VI.
Only until this cigarette is ended, A little moment at the end of all, While on the floor the quiet ashes fall, And in the firelight to a lance extended, Bizarrely with the jazzing music blended, The broken shadow dances on the wall, I will permit my memory to recall The vision of you, by all my dreams attended. And then adieu, –farewell!–the dream is done. Yours is a face of which I can forget The colour and the features, every one,
The words not ever, and the smiles not yet; But in your day this moment is the sun Upon a hill, after the sun has set .
VII.
Oh, think not I am faithful to a vow! Faithless am I save to love’s self alone. Were you not lovely I would leave you now: After the feet of beauty fly my own. Were you not still my hunger’s rarest food, And water ever to my wildest thirst, I would desert you — think not but I would! — And seek another as I sought you first. But you are mobile as the veering air, And all your charms more changeful than the tide, Wherefore to be inconstant is no care: I have but to continue at your side. So wanton, light and false, my love, are you, I am most faithless when I most am true.
VIII.
When I too long have looked upon your face, Wherein for me a brightness unobscured Save by the mists of brightness has its place, And terrible beauty not to be endured, I turn away reluctant from your light, And stand irresolute, a mind undone, A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight From having looked too long upon the sun. Then is my daily life a narrow room In which a little while, uncertainly, Surrounded by impenetrable gloom, Among familiar things grown strange to me Making my way, I pause, and feel, and hark, Till I become accustomed to the dark.
UPCOMING WELLS SCHOOL OF MUSIC EVENTS
For full event details visitwcupa.edu/music or call (610) 436-2739
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 , 7:30 PM
Faculty Recital:
Mark Rimple with guest artist Tina Chancey
Ware Family Recital Hall
Swope Music Building
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 , 7:30 PM
36th Annual WCU Jazz Festival:
Faculty Jazz Concert
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre
Performing Arts Center
Thursday, March 19, 2026 , 7:30 PM
36th Annual WCU Jazz Festival:
State of Affairs- Central: The Harrisburg Jazz Collective
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre , PAC
Saturday, March 21, 2026 ,
*36th Annual WCU Jazz Festival:
High School Jazz Festival
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre
Performing Arts Center
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 , 12:00 PM
36th Annual WCU Jazz Festival: Student Showcase
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center
Thursday, March 19, 2026 , 12:00 PM
36th Annual WCU Jazz Festival:
Diane Monroe
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center
Friday, March 20, 2026 , 7:30 PM
36th Annual WCU Jazz Festival
Philadelphia's Finest Meet the Criterions
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center
Sunday, March 22, 2026 , 3:00 PM
Wind Ensemble: East Meets West Band Invitational
Andrew Yozviak, director
Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center
*Ticketsarerequired for this event.
†For weekday daytime events, please RSVP tomusicinfo@wcupa.eduto obtain a parking pass via email
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A majority of performances are available to watch via live stream atVimeo.com/WSOM
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Steinway & Sons Piano Technical, Tuning and Concert Preparations by Gerald P. Cousins, RPT
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