WEN-TING ONG

Innovative Pianist with superior knowledge of classical piano, composition and improvisation. Adept at planning private lessons and educating other musicians on musical theory and Western Classical Piano. Dedicated to regular rehearsals with an exceptional understanding of sight-reading.

• Honorable Mention: Bradshaw and Buono International Competition for Piano Duo, 2015
• Scholarship Recipient for NKCP (National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy), 2015
• Koch Cultural Grant Fellow, 2015-2017
• Cortona Sessions Festival Resident Fellow, 2016
• Finalist: National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, 2017
• Semi-Finalist: Coltman National Chamber Competition, 2019

Projects and Performances and Production

• Northeastern Composers' Concert, April 2018- Solo Pianist for a Composition Concert on the campus of Northeastern University, MA.
• Royal Academy of Dance Pianist: Intensive RAD Access Route, May 2018/2019- Helped train and work with dancers at the Boston Conservatory in their RAD certification exam and created musical and dance curriculum for students aged 5-18.
• Little Women: Sister Stories, August 2018- Composed and created the soundworld with Turning Key Dance Company for a contemporary-ballet performance in Concord, MA based on the narrative of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.
• Audition Pianist: Norwegian Creative Studios for Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas, and Oceania Cruises, January 2020- Assisted in auditioning and playing for vocalists at Berklee School of Music.
• Boston Ballet School Senior Showcase, January 2021- Lead Pianist and Rehearsal Pianist for solo dance performances featuring students at Walnut Hill School of the Arts, MA.
• My-Melodies Festival, April 2021- Guest clinician for piano and vocal masterclasses for students based in Lawrence, KS.
• Vail Dance Festival, August 2021- Guest Artist and rehearsal pianist for a two-week international dance festival in the Rocky Mountains of Vail featuring New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet X, and other dance groups.
• Songs at the Hearth, May/June 2021- Curated a virtual concert at the campus of Joy of Music School (Worcester, MA) with selections from Wild, Stravinsky, Mompou, and Lanzilotti.

A Cubist Reading of Maurice Ravel's La valse (May 2017)

• http://hdl.handle.net/1808/25392
• Ravel’s La valse is often interpreted as the embodiment of fallen or disintegrating romantic idioms, embodied in his treatment of the waltz. However, La valse can also be discussed in the context of the artistic trends of its time, particularly its relationship to cubist aesthetics in painting. Although there is no concrete evidence that cubism was used as a source for La valse, Deborah Mawer has written about the influence of cubist ideas on other works by Ravel. My analysis will correlate certain cubist techniques with Ravel’s compositional techniques and explain how to translate cubism into a musical aesthetic consisting of characteristics such as fragmentation, angularity, and collage, similar to the analytical cubist works of Picasso and Braque. Comparisons with paintings by Picasso and Braque, along with Ravel’s earlier Valses nobles et sentimentales, replace the analytical focus on the destruction of the waltz idiom with a depiction of the many layers, angles and facets of the waltz, as if it were the subject of a cubist painting. This cubist interpretation emphasizes the structure and form of the piece, as well as emphasizing the thematic relationships. Rather than giving primacy to a climactic arrival in the final bars of the piece, this reading focuses the performer’s attention on the development of the main body of the piece.