Chromic Duo
Join us on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. for a ticketed performance by the prize-winning, genre-bending group Chromic Duo.
The 2022 Grand Prize winners at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Concert Artists Guild (CAG) Victor Elmaleh Competition, Chromic Duo – artists Lucy Yao and Dorothy Chan – blends classical music, toy piano, and electronics into genre-fluid performances and installations. Inspired by the small wonders of the everyday, they compose sound worlds inspired by the multitudes as Third-Culture Kids discovering their voices within the vast Asian-American diaspora.
The Duo’s work is intended to look at the smallest objects of the everyday in order to uncover truths and reimagine how we connect with each other. It often blurs the lines between film, virtual reality, and augmented reality, but the heart of the ensemble’s work remains constant: to create an intimacy and sense of wonder in its music that unravels the story of self-discovery and passion, connecting the dots between grief and joy, belonging and displacement, and creating community in boundary-pushing performances and web-based experiences.
Recent highlights include a sold-out performance on the New York Philharmonic’s Kravis Nightcap Series, partnering with Welcome to Chinatown to feature AAPI business owners and artists in an immersive soundwalk in New York City’s Chinatown, working with the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program to create a soundwalk through Central Park, and partnering with the Smithsonian Institute as part of the National Museum of Asian Art’s 100th Anniversary celebration.
Over two seasons, the Duo acted as Innovators-in-Residence at Purdue University and collaborated with the Purdue team to develop and launch the StairWELL project, an interactive sculpture installation that explored the intersection of art, tech, and wellness. The 2023-24 season featured a residency at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, a debut performance for the Celebrity Series in Boston, and a collaboration with Vision Duo for “Musicians on the Rise,” a co-presentation between CAG and Kaufman Music Center in Merkin Hall.
