Episode 100: Cheng² Duo on new works for cello and piano

Recent visitors to thestrad.com may have noticed a video that premiered called Racing Horses, featuring a spirited performance from the cello and piano Cheng² Duo, comprising siblings Bryan Cheng on cello and Silvie Cheng on piano. Racing Horses features on their upcoming album Portrait, which contains works by composers of Asian heritage, as well as two arrangements of Chinese folk songs, Racing Horses being one of them.

In an international operation that involved Bryan in Romania and Silvie in New York, both siblings joined online editor Davina for a conversation recently about the choices behind their album’s programming, how music can be used to celebrate heritage, diversity and representation, as well as doing justice to traditional Chinese instruments on the cello and piano. Plus, the two share details of what music-making was like during their childhood in Canada.

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Racing Horses/Sai Ma (赛马) by Huang Haihuai

Cheng² Duo

Bryan Cheng, cello / Silvie Cheng, piano

Portrait

Centrediscs

Photo credit: Andrej Grilc