Theresa Wong (born 1976)
Theresa Wong is first generation Chinese-American born in Schenectady, New York. She studied classical piano and cello from an early age but studied product design as an undergraduate at Stanford University, and then earned an MFA at Mills College.
Her website states: “Embracing multiplicity, Wong’s artistic practice follows inquiries into song forms, improvisation, just intonation, and multi-media performance.” Much of her music is improvised on cello, often includes voice, and often involves collaboration with others. She participated in Ellen Fullman’s long-string composition Harbors that is featured in her entry in this project.
This is the first of five YouTube videos of solo cello improvisation performed by Theresa Wong in March 2018. In this one, she’s able to play cello glissandi (sometimes combined with voice) to make it seem as if the cello is speaking, albeit in an alien language!
Theresa Wong also composes in more traditional frameworks. Here is a 2019 world premiere by Sarah Cahill of a Theresa Wong piano work She Dances Naked Under Palm Trees:
The title is based on a line in the poem “No Images” by Harlem Renaissance poet Waring Cuney, as set to music by Nina Simone.