Pianist Min Kwon on May 28 at Symphony Space

Kwon performs new works from her "America/Beautiful" project by Jessica Meyer, Wang Jie, Victoria Bond and more, including 4 world premieres. Each piece is a variation on "America the Beautiful," commissioned by Kwon

Victoria Bond's Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival presents pianist Min Kwon on Wednesday, May 28 at 7:30 pm at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St., New York, NY). Tickets are $30, available here. 

The program features works commissioned by Kwon for her "America/Beautiful" project, in which she asked a diverse group of over seventy American composers to write a variation on "America the Beautiful." Kwon says, "My hope is to paint a sonic picture of my adopted country in all of its sprawling complexity, and ultimately try to find the beauty at the core of the American experiment and its credo of e pluribus unum (out of many, one)."

The May 28 program features sixteen short selections (including four world premieres) from the project including works by Victoria Bond, Vijay Iyer, Sebastian Currier, Jessica Meyer, Paul Moravec, and more. Complete program details are below.

Bond's variation From Sea to Shining Sea was premiered in 2021. Cleverly using the lyrics as well as the music for inspiration, Bond's variation begins with and ends on the note "C". She says her work is a mini-drama, taking the listener through a gamut of conflicting emotions. From Sea to Shining Sea begins on a hopeful note before taking a dark and sorrowful turn, followed by music that expresses anger and frustration. "The piece ends optimistically and triumphantly," says Bond. "I am intentionally not referring to specific events here; it is for the listener to draw his or her own interpretation of what this music means."