Join us this Valentines season for an enchanting program to celebrate love in all its forms. The program features Smetana’s The Moldau, a patriotic anthem, and Psychopomp Ensemble’s heartfelt tribute to Bach alongside works by Hindemith and Kurtág. The ensemble will also offer exciting original arrangements of music by jazz legends Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Ran Blake, and the modern sensation Laufey, among others. Don’t miss this unforgettable celebration where love knows no boundaries!
The concert will be held at Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, near Harvard Law School, at 7:30 pm.
Benefits Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund. $25 for Mass. Peace Action members, $35 for non-members, $10 for students and low incomes.
To reserve, write a check to “Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund” or “MAPA EF” and mail to 1991 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140, or call 617-354-2169 with credit card number. Or reserve your tickets online.
Donations to support our work for peace are welcome in any amount. Supporters donate $250 or more to Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund; they receive two tickets with preferred seating in the first 3 rows and recognition in the program. Sponsors donate $500 and receive four tickets; Benefactors donate $1,000 and receive eight tickets. All contributions above $35 per concert are tax-deductible.
The audience is invited to join the musicians and Peace Action members at a reception after the concert. The venue is wheelchair accessible via a ramp to the left of the church.
Co-founded by pianists Chi-Wei Lo and Xiaopei Xu, Psychopomp Ensemble weaves together a diverse tapestry of traditional serious music, third stream, jazz, pop, blues, minimalist, and contemporary, creating an auditory experience that defies categorization.
Their arrangements—some in their psychopomp mode—blend improvisation, re-composition, and unaltered portions into original works, guiding both connoisseurs and newcomers through their musical universe. The Boston Musical Intelligencer describes them as offering “new directions in pianism” and exploring the “far reaches of musical possibilities.” They aspire not merely to stake a claim but to reshape the landscape, push boundaries, and redefine possibilities within the realm of two-piano as well as four-hand repertoire.
Recently, Psychopomp Ensemble appeared on The Kamerman Piano Series at the University of West Florida and at Puddingstone Events in Rhode Island. Additionally, Psychopomp’s past performance highlights include concerts presented by UCLA, the Chinese American Museum (LA), the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Scripps College, Ukraine Forward, the College Music Society, the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, the Lancaster Piano Festival, and the German Society of Pennsylvania. In 2021, Psychopomp Ensemble participated in interdisciplinary events in Los Angeles, which garnered coverage from more than a dozen media outlets, including The LA Times, NBC News, Shanghai Morning Post, Qilu Evening News, and others.
Chi-Wei Lo is a pianist, improviser, and arranger whose performances utilize a plethora of musical languages. As a co-founder of the Psychopomp Ensemble, Lo has continually pushed boundaries, blending interdisciplinary art forms with both traditional and avant-garde musical elements to create compelling concert experiences.
With a career spanning diverse platforms, Lo has been presented by the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, North American Medical Orchestra, The Lancaster Piano Festival, College Music Society, UCLA, Lilypad, Chamber Music Charlestown, The Harvard Musical Association, The Chinese American Museum (LA), Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, Caroga Arts Collective, New Asia Chamber Music Society, the German Society of Pennsylvania, and the Counterpoint Ensemble (Taiwan), among many others.
Lo holds a Bachelor of Music (B.M.) and a Master of Music (M.M.) in piano performance from The Juilliard School. He is expected to complete his Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in Contemporary Musical Arts (formerly Contemporary Improvisation) at the New England Conservatory this year. Currently, Lo shapes the next generation of musicians as an Assistant Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and a Theory Instructor at the New England Conservatory. During the summer, he teaches improvisation classes and piano at The Lancaster Piano Festival, where he delivers all pre-concert talks, sharing his expertise and passion for music with festival attendees.
Hailed by The Boston Globe as “a world-class pianist,” Xiaopei Xu has captivated audiences worldwide with her “spellbinding and expressive”performances (BMInt). She made her Boston Symphony Hall concerto debut with Boston Pops in 2018, and has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across three continents.
Xu’s recent performances have been presented by the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Harvard Musical Association, Foundation for the Chinese Performing Arts, The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, German Society of Pennsylvania, Lancaster International Piano Festival, Chinese American Museum(LA), Ukraine Forward, College Music Society… etc.
Xu holds her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University, Master’s degree from Yale University and Bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Hung-Kuan Chen, Xun Pan, Meng-Chieh Liu, and Boaz Sharon. She has also worked with influential musicians such as Claude Frank, Richard Goode, and Paul Badura-Skoda.
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