《上邪》LOVE, EARTH, DEATHAlmost Quintet 2026 New York City Concert ——When ancient vows, folk roots, and modern voices meet in New York.

About the Event

《上邪》LOVE, EARTH, DEATH
“山无棱，天地合，乃敢与君绝。”

🌍 Love. Earth. Death.
These are among the most elemental forces of human existence—forces that transcend geography, history, and culture.

Join us for the opening concert of Almost Quintet’s 2026 New York City Tour at Music Pathway Studio for an intimate evening exploring these universal themes through music rooted in Chinese and Black musical traditions.

The program features works by Black and Chinese composers, revealing how communities shaped by vastly different histories have used music to express struggle, resilience, longing, love, and mortality.

At the heart of the program is Dorothy Rudd Moore’s Sonnets on Love, Rosebuds and Death, alongside music by Edward W. Hardy, whose expressive musical language confronts memory, suffering, identity, and the human experience.

In counterpoint, Bright Sheng’s Three Chinese Love Songs draws upon Chinese folk traditions, while selections from He Zhanhao and Chen Gang’s Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto transform one of China’s most enduring tragic love stories into an iconic classical work.

Across languages, continents, and generations, these works ask remarkably similar questions:

• How do we love?
• What connects us to the earth and to one another?
• How do we face loss, mortality, and separation?

Through the fusion of folk roots and contemporary classical expression, LOVE, EARTH, DEATH invites audiences to hear not simply the contrast between cultures, but their resonance.

🎶 An intimate musical journey through the experiences that make us human.

Featured Artists

Zhengyingyue “Elaine” Huang, Soprano
Chinese soprano Dr. Zhengyingyue “Elaine” Huang is an internationally active singer, opera performer, director, and advocate for greater representation in classical music. Her performances have taken her to prestigious venues worldwide. In 2021, she founded the Asian Classical Music Initiative (ACMI) to celebrate and promote music by Asian and Pan-Asian composers.

Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Violin & Viola
Award-winning violinist Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh has appeared as a soloist and recitalist internationally. She is a member of ECHOI and regularly collaborates with ensembles throughout Los Angeles. A dedicated educator, she teaches at UCLA and other institutions.

Peiyao Yu, Piano & Organ
Described as bringing “sparks from the keyboard,” Dr. Peiyao Yu is a pianist, organist, and carillonist whose performances span multiple continents. She is active in interdisciplinary performance and is the founder of Almost Quintet.

Location

📍 Music Pathway Studio NY
38 W 32nd St #1200, New York, NY 10001, USA

Admission

Free Entry