中華表演藝術基金會 Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts

Concert 6

Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 7:30 pm
at
NEC's Williams Hall

Psychopomp Ensemble:

Xiaopei Xu 徐小培
Chi-wei Lo 駱奇偉

~ Program ~

Toward Infinity

J. S. Bach/Kurtag :
Christe, du Lamm Gottes
(Christ, Lamb of God), BWV 619

J. S. Bach/Faidon Filipsson :
Widerstehe doch der Sünde
(Just resist sin), BWV 54

John Adams :
Hallelujah Junction

~ Intermission ~

Gustav Holst/Psychopomp :
The Planets, Op. 32
I. Mars, the Bringer of War
II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
VI. Uranus, the Magician
VII. Neptune, the Mystic



"The Psychopomp Ensemble, a dynamic piano duo, explored the deeply personal and the cosmically expansive when they dispatched these works with whimsical assurance Tuesday night at NEC’s Williams Hall. And if this concert of the ongoing Foundation of Chinese Performing Arts suggested anything beyond the sheer spectacle, it’s that any journey can be fun if the music grooves hard." - Aaron Keebaugh of the Boston Musical Intelligencer

Admission Free, suggested donation $10 at door.
Children under 6 not admitted.

中華表演藝術基金會
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
Lincoln, Massachusetts

event photos: Chung Cheng

event photos: Haiqi Zhang

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

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 Chamber Music Charlestown, 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, and others.

Praised by The Boston Globe as “a world-class pianist,” Xiaopei Xu has captivated audiences worldwide with performances described as “spellbinding and expressive”(Boston Musical Intelligencer). She made her Boston Symphony Hall concerto debut with Boston Pops in 2018 and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Recent highlights include appearances presented by the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Harvard Musical Association, Puddingstone Festival, 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. Her concerts have been featured in The Boston Globe, Sing Tao Daily, Boston Musical Intelligencer, Lancaster New Era, and in major Chinese publications such as Shanghai Morning Post, Qilu Evening news, Music Weekly, Yanzhao Metropolis Daily, and Shanxi Evening News.

Xu is a laureate of several international competitions, including the New York International Piano Competition, Cooper International Piano Competition, Tureck International Bach Competition, Richmond Piano Competition and the Washington D.C. International Young Artist Competition. She has been featured in prominent festivals such as Pianofest in the Hamptons, PianoTexas, Banff Music Centre, Sarasota Music Festival, Russia Young Artist Festival, and the Walnut Hill Music Festival. Xu regularly gives masterclasses and lectures in China, including in Nanjing, Beijing, Qingdao, and serves on the piano faculty at the Lancaster Intentional Piano Festival in the US.

Beyond the concert stage, Xu integrates her passion for visual arts into her musical projects, creating multidisciplinary collaborations that enrich the concert experience. She has been commissioned for installations and multimedia performances. Notable projects include a combined art and concert presentation at the Germany Society of Pennsylvania, and a visual installation for The Seven Deadly Sins, an interdisciplinary concert at the New England Conservatory. Collections of her artwork have been published by Jeune Critique, the journal of the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition.

Xu holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University, a Master of Music from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory. She is the co-founder of Psychopomp Ensemble and an Affiliated Artist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chi-Wei Lo is a pianist, improviser, and arranger whose performances draw from a wide range of musical languages. As 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, the North American Medical Orchestra, the Lancaster Piano Festival, the College Music Society, UCLA, Lilypad, Chamber Music Charlestown, the Harvard Musical Association, the Chinese American Museum (LA), the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, the Caroga Arts Collective, the 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 a limited-edition metro card issued in Taiwan. His solo tours, The Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins, Declaration of Aesthetics, and Twelve Over Twelve, not only showcased his creative range but also included benefit concerts, reflecting his belief that musicians should contribute to their communities. Lo’s artistic vision has garnered international media attention, with features in The Guardian Nigeria News, International Business Times UK, and Digital Journal for his championing of contemporary music and commitment to cross-cultural programming.

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

Lo holds both a Bachelor (B.M.) and Master of Music (M.M.) in piano performance from The Juilliard School. He currently shapes the next generation of musicians as an Assistant Professor of Harmony and Composition at Berklee College of Music and serves on the faculty of both the Theory Department and the Contemporary Musical Arts Department (formerly Contemporary Improvisation) within New England Conservatory’s Expanded Education division.

From Bach’s inward spirituality to Holst’s vast celestial imagination, tonight’s program traces a journey toward realms that lie beyond humanity. Prayer, motion, mythology, and the cosmos become different ways of contemplating the infinite.

The opening works present Bach through two distinct modern voices. Kurtág preserves the chorale's quiet spirituality, while Filipsson transforms Bach's dramatic vocal writing into a virtuosic dialogue for two pianos.

John Adams's Hallelujah Junction serves as the gateway between earth and the cosmos. Named after a small crossroads on the California–Nevada border, the work unfolds in three contrasting sections. At its opening, one hears the rhythmic shape of the final three syllables of "Hal-le-lu-jah" ("le-lu-jah") echoed, layered, and continuously transformed between the two pianos. Only at the conclusion of the work does the complete word finally emerge in full. The central section opens into broad, luminous harmonies built around richly resonant chords.

The second half is devoted to Gustav Holst's monumental The Planets. Long before the orchestral version became one of the most celebrated works in the repertoire, Holst first conceived the suite for two pianos before expanding it for orchestra. Rather than depicting the physical planets themselves, each movement portrays the astrological character associated with a planet, from the relentless power of Mars to the mystery of Neptune. The suite can also be heard as a symbolic journey through the stages of life, with Jupiter standing at its center as an embodiment of strength, confidence, and the fullest expression of human possibility before the music gradually turns toward old age, magic, and finally the infinite unknown.

For tonight's performance, we return the work to the keyboard in a newly expanded two-piano arrangement. While remaining faithful to Holst's original musical ideas, we have composed new material for selected repeats and transitions and incorporated moments of improvisation where the original keyboard texture leaves room for further exploration. In doing so, we hope to capture not only the grandeur of the orchestral score but also the spontaneity and imagination that two pianists can bring to this extraordinary journey toward infinity.

Thank you for your generous contribution to
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts