Harmony Across Borders
Dr. Yu-Mei Huang, Violin
Dr. Xiaohu Zhou, Basson
Dr. Fritz Gechter, Piano
FREE Admission
Friday, April 11, 2025
6:00 p.m.
Valley Keyboards
(956) 686-4863
Miller Recital Hall
900 Harvey - McAllen, TX
Dr. Yu-Mei Huang
An outstanding soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Yu-Mei Huang has appeared as both a violinist and a pianist in the U.S. and Asia. After finishing her basic education in her native Taiwan, Dr. Huang came to the U.S in 1997 and received BM and MM degrees in Violin Performance and Conducting at Florida International University. Dr. Huang pursued doctoral work on a full scholarship and teaching assistantship at the University of Miami, where she was both the concertmaster and associate conductor of the UM symphony Orchestra. In 2005 she earned her D.M.A. in violin performance and made Laredo her home, serving as a full- time faculty member at Texas A&M International University and concertmaster of the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, she was promoted to Associate Professor. In addition, she is a frequently featured soloist with the LPO, having performed the Mozart Double Concerto in 2006, Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 in 2009, the Butterfly Violin Concerto in 2010, and Vivaldi Four Seasons Violin Concerto in 2017. She has been invited to give master performances and lectures every year in the U.S and Asia (Taiwan and China) since 2010. At TAMIU, she teaches Music Fundamentals, Theory, Aural Training, Conducting and all string-related classes. She is also presenting as faculty lead for study abroad programs. In addition to her regular teaching assignments, Dr. Huang launched the “International Chamber Music Festival”, an annual recital presenting TAMIU music faculty performers along with other international artists. She also servs as a board member in several professional organizations outside of TAMIU such as Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra and Laredo International Piano Competition.
Dr. Xiaohu Zhou
Dr. Xiaohu Zhou, a native of P. R. China, started his professional orchestral playing career at the age of twenty while attending the Jiansu Province School of the Arts (P. R. China). There he held the position of associate principal bassoonist of Jiansu Province Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Zhou was appointed principal bassoonist of the Miami Symphony Orchestra for the 2002 to 2006 season while pursuing his DMA degree at University of Miami. He also played with the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and many others. Dr. Zhou was invited to give recitals for the International Double Reed Society Convention in 2005 and 2006.
Dr. Zhou started to teach at Texas A&M International University and serve as the principal bassoonist for the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007. In summer 2012, Dr. Zhou was invited to give master classes and recitals at Nanjing School of the Arts (Nanjing, China) and National Taiwan School of the Arts (Taipei, Taiwan). He also performed and gave master classes in Taiwan and Shanghai in summer 2015. Dr. Zhou teaches the following classes at TAMIU including, Applied Double Reeds Instruments, Aural Training, Computer Music, Chinese, and Music in Dance. He is also the principal bassoonist in Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Dr. Fritz Gechter
A native of Seattle, Washington, pianist Dr. Fritz Gechter has appeared as both soloist and collaborative artist throughout the U.S. and abroad. He made his European debut collaborating with his wife, Suzanne Ramo, soprano, in Germany and his Asian debut with violinist, Yu-mei Huang, at Aletheia University in Taiwan. Dr. Gechter has performed in the Alfredo Saint Malo Music Festival in Panama and more recently appeared in a solo recital in Switzerland. In 2016 he soloed with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Municipal Orchestra, and McAllen Symphonic Band.
At TAMIU Dr. Gechter is Associate Professor of Music & Piano and currently teaches Applied and Class Piano. He is an active clinician and jury member in piano competitions, and while at TAMIU has launched and directed TAMIU’s Steinway Series, led a study abroad program within the department to Austria, and directed the university’s Young Pianists Program for secondary school students from 2009-2015. Gechter received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Central Washington University and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance from The University of Texas at Austin under the tutelage of Gregory Allen.
The Program
Piano 4 hands
Yu-Mei Huang & Fritz Gechter, piano
Violin solo with accompaniment
Sleepless Jasmin by Shih-Che Huang
Violin Sonata No 32, Bb by Mozart K.454
Yu-Mei Huang, violin
Fritz Gechter, piano
Trio
Danza del Río / River Dance by Colin Campbell (1970- )
White Nights-Rhapsody on “Agni Parthene” for Piano Trio by Christopher Stanichar
Yu-Mei Huang, violin
Xiaohu Zhou, bassoon
Fritz Gechter, piano
Piano 4 hands
Melancholy in the blooms under moonlight by Shih-Che Huang
The four-hand piano arrangement is centered around the story of the Taiwanese folk song “Flower in the Rainy Night.” It begins with Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” conveying the sorrow of a woman working in a tavern. The middle section, a waltz, reflects memories of a happier time. Following by that, “Jardins sous la pluie” represents a sudden downpour, describing the girl’s feelings of betrayal and introducing the theme of the song “Sorrow on a Moonlit Night.” The piece concludes by returning to “Clair de Lune,” bringing this sad story to an end.
Piano/Violin Duet
Danses Pneumatiques by Dirk Denton
The harmonic basis (or palette) for [this] piece is elucidated in the opening (whole note) section, divided into four parts which later become the four dances. Then at the outset of each dance, I remind the listener what section of the harmonic palette is about to be used in the dance.
After that, I just came up with melodic and rhythmic motifs, employing the harmonic palette as a kind of limitation. I fully employ repetition to help make what some listeners may deem to be odd sounds seem “normal”.
That guided me in my choices of harmonic palette? Fresh sounds, and tension and release. Harmony doesn’t need to follow functional theoretical rules in order to create tension and release. As with all my pantonal compositions, I let my ear be my final guide; in other words what sounds good to my ears stays. My ears have been “seasoned” so to speak by a lifelong curiosity about/ openness to all kinds of music, from classical and jazz, to rock and pop and ethnic music from all over the world. So I definitely have complete faith in my ears to make the right decision with respect to harmonic choices.
The problem with atonal music in contrast with pantonal music is that the harmonic-melodic language is not accessible to the human ear. Why is that? Because it is overly mechanistic, and this, while perhaps interesting as novelty, keeps it at arm’s length from the human heart. Emotions are the language of the heart. Good music accesses our hearts by stimulating the plethora of human emotions.
-Dirk Denton
Sleepless Jasmin by Shih-Che Huang
“Jasmine Flower Sleepless” is based on the classic folk song “Jasmine Flower.” The music showcases the fresh elegance of the jasmine flower, expressing the pursuit and longing for beautiful things through a smooth melody.
In the middle section, the piece introduces a segment from Italian composer Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” specifically “Nessun dorma” (“None Shall Sleep”), blending it with the motif of “Jasmine Flower.” This added melody pushes the composition to an emotional climax. Before the lingering resonance fades, the piece transitions into a minor key, where the collision and fusion of the two musical themes symbolize the dialogue and interaction between Eastern and Western cultures. The sleepless jasmine flower intertwines with the sleepless princess, painting a dreamlike scene that transcends time and space, allowing listeners to feel the harmony and resonance between Eastern and Western music.
The final section returns to the “Jasmine Flower” theme, where the arranger has hidden a small surprise, hoping attentive listeners will discover this clever touch!
Sonata in B flat Major, K. 454 by W. A. Mozart
In every instance, whether on published title pages or, in the instance of the later sonatas, Mozart’s own entries in his own thematic catalog, the 26 sonatas for violin and piano are listed as being for piano with the accompaniment of violin. This clearly illustrates a presumed dominance on the part of the piano, the contradiction of which is one of the marked characteristics of the sonatas composed in the 1780s. With the exception of the last, K. 547 in F, composed as a beginner’s work complementing the “easy” Piano Sonata in C, K. 545, the sonatas composed in the 1780s attain not only greater equality between the two instruments, but a new unity of thematic material. Of no sonata is this more true than the B flat Sonata, which in the words of Alfred Einstein is “by far” Mozart’s best contribution to the repertoire. Einstein goes on to suggest that that “one cannot conceive of any more perfect alternation between the two instruments than that of the first Allegro,” going on to praise the central Andante (originally marked adagio) for its perfect fusion of “feeling and brilliance.” The sonata was composed in April 1784, being entered in his newly-commenced catalog on the 21st. Given the detail that follows, the date is clearly inaccurate, as the sonata was by no means complete by April 21. Thanks to a letter of April 24 from Mozart to his father, the genesis of the work is known: “We have here at the moment the famous Strinascacchi [Rigina Strinascacchi, a highly talented young violinist who had studied at the Pietà in Venice], a very good violinist; she plays with lots of taste and sensitivity. Right now I am composing a sonata which we are going to play together at her Academy [concert] next Thursday in the theater.” According to Mozart’s wife Constanze, the composer had not written down his own part by the time of the concert, playing from memory. The veracity of the anecdote is confirmed by the autograph manuscript, now housed in Stockholm, since the keyboard part is clearly an addition to the score, being written in a different color ink. The sonata was published in Vienna by Torricella in August the same year, the publisher reminding prospective purchasers that it had been played by Strinascacchi and Mozart “to great applause.”
-Description by Brian Robins
Piano/Violin/Bassoon trio
A Midsummer Night in the Countryside by Shih-Che Huang
“A Midsummer Night in the Countryside” is a piece that blends Taiwanese folk music with Western classical music, leading listeners into a world filled with the atmosphere of summer. The composition incorporates Taiwanese folk tunes such as “Roast Pork Zong,” “Jasmine in June,” and “Northwest Rain” as its themes. These melodies vividly depict the characteristics of summer harvests, natural landscapes, and the rainy season, evoking memories and emotions related to the summer ambiance of Taiwan.
The piece begins by blending Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony with the folk tunes “Roast Pork Zong” and “Jasmine in June,” symbolizing a tribute to nature and adding layers to this vibrant musical painting. In the middle section, Vivaldi’s Summer is interwoven with the motif of “Northwest Rain,” echoing the grandeur and power of thunderstorms in the summer. The ending mirrors the beginning, with the final accents symbolizing the arrival of spring thunder.
Danza del Río / River Dance by Colin Campbell
Danza del Río / River Dance was commissioned by Drs. Huang and Gechter as part of a creative grant research project. The requirements expressed were that the work include elements of the Border, in this case the river and the dance, and South African elements—my native country, in this case the repetitive opening piano accompaniment and rhythms resembling a mbira (also known as a kalimba and finger piano). The dance section has a similar rhythmic reference to mariachi music, but also to the Viennese waltz. The closing section is a return to the African feel, similar to our locale along the border and the desert, more of the earthen and ethnic sounds utilizing the instruments in ways we do not normally hear: clicking sounds on the bassoon’s finger holes and mechanism, flautando, sul ponticello executed con sordino (with the mute) in combination with harmonics usage on the violin (which resembles the uhadi bow, a Nguni instrument), and using the fingers to play the piano strings as a harp—the piano also needs to do something different! These unusual sounds are meant to resemble the dry heat, wind, and insects, the only sounds in the scorching sun once the river dries up.
White Nights-Rhapsody on “Agni Parthene” for Piano Trio by Christopher Stanichar
In the summer of 2024, the composer Christopher Stanichar created White Nights for two faculty members at Texas A&M International University, Dr. Fritz Gechter (professor of piano) and Dr. Yu-Mei Huang (professor of violin). The commissioned work as requested to be an original piano trio that would reflect composer’s ethnic heritage and be adaptable for various instruments.
The composition is built around the Greek Orthodox melody “Agni Parthene,” a hymn to the Virgin Mary. The composer, who had long admired this melody after hearing it in Russian churches, later discovered that it was composed in the 1970s by Hieromonk Gregory, despite having believed it was of Byzantine origin.
White Nights is a rhapsody that explores the melody through various harmonies and time signatures. The work also includes a reference to the composer’s Romance for piano, a piece inspired by his partner, Elena. White Nights is dedicated to both her and his friends Dr. Fritz Gechter and Dr. Yu-Mei Huang.