Psychopomp Ensemble
https://www.psychopompensemble.com/

Founded by CHI-WEI LO and XIAOPEI XU, the Psychopomp Ensemble has been recognized for their unconventional transcriptions and multidisciplinary performances. In a pioneering pursuit, the Psychopomp Ensemble presents music synthesizing improvisation, recompositions, and original works, forging paths in standard repertoire as well as world music and works in the 21st century.

Immediate highlights include concerts presented by the UCLA, The Chinese American Museum (LA), Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Scripps College, Ukraine Forward, College Music Society, Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, The Lancaster Piano Festival and the German Society of Pennsylvania.

In 2021, the Psychopomp Ensemble participated in interdisciplinary events in Los Angeles, which attracted coverage from more than a dozen media outlets, including the LA Times, NBC News, Shanghai Morning Post, Qilu Evening News, and others.
 
Xiaopei Xu 徐小培, piano

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, among others.

Xu has received international acclaim with top prizes at the New York International Piano Competition, Oberlin International Piano Competition, Tureck International Bach Competition, Richmond Piano Competition and the Washington D.C. International Young Artist Competition. She has been invited to major festivals including Pianofest in the Hamptons, PianoTexas, Banff Music Centre, Sarasota Music Festival, Russia Young Artist Festival, and the Walnut Hill Music Festival. Xu has also been invited regularly to give masterclasses and lectures in Nanjing, Beijing, Qingdao, amongst other cities in China. Xu has been exclusively interviewed by Shanghai Morning Post, Qilu Evening news, Music Weekly, Yanzhao Metropolis Daily, and Shanxi Evening News. Her concerts have been reported by The Boston Globe, Sing Tao Daily, Boston Musical Intelligencer, Lancaster New Era, and more.

In addition to her musical endeavors, Xu integrates her love for visual arts with music, creating multidisciplinary collaborations as a way to enhance the artistic experience. A painter herself, she has been commissioned for several installations and collaborative projects. Xu created a combined art and concert experience at the Germany Society of Pennsylvania, as well as an exhibition of her artwork in “The Seven Deadly Sins,” an interdisciplinary concert at the New England Conservatory. Collections of her drawings have been published by the Clara Haskil Competition’s Jeune Critique.

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.

Chi Wei Lo  駱奇偉, piano/arranger

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’s dedication to his craft is evident in his diverse projects and achievements. In 2018, he was commissioned by the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation (KRTC) for its 10th anniversary, resulting in the creation of his album Piano Improvisations and the issuance of a limited-edition metro-card in Taiwan. His solo tours, such as The Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins, Declaration of Aesthetics, and Twelve Over Twelve, not only showcased his extraordinary musical prowess but also included benefit concerts, reflecting his belief that musicians should contribute to their communities.

In addition to his musical output, Lo is a writer, contributing reviews and interviews to the Boston Musical Intelligencer, where his observations and musical knowledge further enrich the music community. He has also served as a judge for the Lancaster International Piano Festival competition and the A. Ramón Rivera Piano Competition.

Lo holds both 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.) at the New England Conservatory in Contemporary Musical Arts (formerly known as Contemporary Improvisation) this year. Currently, Lo is shaping the next generation of musicians as an Assistant Professor in Composition at Berklee College of Music and a theory instructor at the New England Conservatory. This summer, he will also be teaching both improvisation and piano at The Lancaster International Piano Festival, where he will present seven pre-concert talks, sharing his expertise and passion for music with festival attendees.