Performed by Laura Cocks (flutes), Kyra Sims (horn), Mabel Kwan (piano)

Walden School YMP 2021, Festival Week Composers Forum III

Program Notes:
The inspiration for this piece came from the view of distant mountains at the Dublin School, New Hampshire. Through the process of around 5 minutes, the piece explores the process of zooming in to a mountain. The piece starts very far from the mountain, where the mountain just appears as a blurry line on the horizon. The general size of the mountain is able to be estimated, however there is no clue about the details of the mountain. Towards the middle of the piece, the view is at a comfortable range from the mountain, seeing some details of the mountain, the trees, the rocks, and hearing occasional sounds that come from the mountain. It is more clear what the mountain is. Near the end of the piece, the listener is in the mountain. Every detail is visible. There are movements and sounds all around. You understand what the mountain is in detail, however the big picture of the mountain is forgotten

https://www.charliezhong.com/recordingsperformances/perspectives-2021

"Perspectives" for bass flute + piccolo, french horn, and piano (2021)

Performed by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Wilkins | April 10, 2022

Winner of the 2021 National Young Composer's Challenge

Program Note:

The idea for this piece came from my fascination with the mysterious and unknown nature of stars. It had fascinated me how one single star - seen from Earth as a tiny spot of light surrounded by utter darkness - is actually this giant and majestic planet far, far away. That same glimmer of light seems so trivial when looked at from Earth, yet, it is actually something just as significant as the Earth itself.

This piece explores the perspectives of that single star. A transformation from a diverse and complicated planet, to one single dot in the entirety of the night sky. Imagine the start of the piece as a very close-up unit inside the star, perhaps a water molecule. Then, we slowly zoom out and we make out colors, then, some blurry shapes. As we zoom out more, we start seeing how the planet is cohesively put together, how the shapes, the colors, the activity and motion all work together to form this star. We begin to see the full picture of the magnificent and complex star. After that, we keep zooming out from the star, the complicated details of the star get swollen up by darkness, the shapes and motion that once existed is distorted and forgotten, leaving the planet to be just one single pixel swallowed by complete darkness.

https://www.charliezhong.com/recordings/like-a-single-star-in-the-night-sky-2021

Many thanks to the National Young Composer's Challenge for making this recording possible!

"Like A Single Star In The Night Sky" for Orchestra (2021)

Realms of Interim II

... as they converge for amplified bassoon and cello

Premiered July 25, 2022 at The Walden School

Dana Jessen - Bassoon
Chris Wild - Cello

https://www.charliezhong.com/recordings/as-they-converge-2022

... as they converge (2022) for bassoon and cello

April 14, 2023
First Church in Boston

Olivia Wang - Violin
Aaron Li - Violin
Mirai Duintjer Tebbens Nishioka - Cello

Video: https://youtu.be/4yewZ8c0aug
https://www.charliezhong.com/recordings/impulse-variations

Impulse Variations (2023)

Performed by Erica Dicker (violin), and Mabel Kwan (piano)
July 25, 2023
The Walden School

Fractured Time (2023) for violin and prepared piano

Charlie Zhong
two lines converge into a vanishing point off-center (2024)
reading by the 2024 BUTI Young Artists Orchestra

Program note:

“It is axiomatic that the point of convergence should appear to be identical with the center of the field of vision of the viewer, which is, of course, the total area of the picture. When this is not the case; that is, when the vanishing point is off-center, the picture plane is felt by the viewer to be at an angle, or diagonal placed relative to his own position, and an oblique view of the scene results.”
- Jean Gillies on Edward Hopper’s Gas, JSTOR
 
 
“The maker of a drawing asks us to imagine ourselves standing in the center of a street, staring straight down its length, and yet seeing clearly what we are not looking at”
- Philip J. Lawson on the “abuse of parallel perspective,” Practical Perspective Drawing, 1943
 
 
"two lines converge into a vanishing point off-center" explores the ambiguity found in Edward Hopper’s oil paintings; the sense of inescapable gravity that pulls the viewer into a vanishing point, only to fall short of clarity and be approached by nothing but emptiness.

Charlie Zhong
July 2024

two lines converge into a vanishing point off-center (2024)

Ring Tree Ring II (for ensemble)

Composer; Boston/New Haven
...More on Spotify and Bandcamp below

two lines converge into a vanishing point off-center (2024)

Charlie Zhong

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