Carrie Hennessey in Conversation with Christian Baldini

On June 4, 2022 I will share the stage with soprano Carrie Hennessey, who has been a frequent collaborator of mine. She will sing arias by Verdi and Dvorak, and duets by Offenbach and Delibes with mezzo-soprano Sarah Fitch. All of this will be with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra in a program that includes Holst's masterpiece The Planets. 

Christian Baldini: Dear Carrie, I am always delighted to work with you and to share your amazing voice and musicality with our audience here in Sacramento. This time we get to do a couple of duets with you and Sarah Fitch, as well as two wonderful arias by Verdi, and one by Dvorak. Tell me, what is special to you about this program, these pieces, this collaboration?

Carrie Hennessey: Well, two of the arias are ones that I performed and advanced in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Merce dilette amiche and Rusalka's Song to the Moon. The Dvorak holds a special place in my heart.  I am currently in the process of writing a one woman show about my singing life, the devastating 12 years away from singing and the coming back to it. This aria has its own tender scene in the show retelling the other worldly experience of my very first Met Audition. I also, of course, love singing with my dear friend Sarah Fitch, so the two duets will have me smiling from the inside out!

CB: How were your beginnings with opera? How did it all start for you?

CH: Growing up in MN, we were exposed really early on to choral, symphonic music and opera. My mother accompanied many local choirs and as a small child I was already memorizing all the parts! In high school I sang in the choirs, the musicals, solo competitions, and one year a famous conductor from the MN Bach Society came to our school to coach our school choir. My choir teacher had me sing a little Italian aria for him and he decided I should work on Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim” for the next competition. He accompanied me, brought in a professional trumpet player, and needless to say helped me develop some rather flashy ornamentation! The more I learned about opera, I loved the playful, collaborative nature of it all and the depth of the storytelling that was possible. 

CB: Why do you think opera is relevant nowadays? What would you like to convey to people in the audience with your wonderful artistry?

CH: Opera, by its nature, conveys deep emotional content. It’s larger than life and can truly house the tremendously big  emotions we all feel. Opera allows for the force of these emotions to move through us in a way that everyday life doesn’t allow. The release is visceral. The depth and breadth of storytelling in this tradition is vast and needed, especially now. My intent is always to connect first to the text and music, to find the universal truth and to take risks vocally and dramatically in order to serve it as best as I can. I intend to be the vessel for our communal, musical experience that we have been lacking during the pandemic. To feel the shared vibrations in these concert halls is a moving way to connect as humans. 

CB: Do you have any advice for young singers who are starting out? What are some helpful considerations? How does one deal with frustrations, failure, and hard decisions? (we have all gone through those!)

CH: Oh my goodness, do I! Seek advice and support from those who are doing the work, those you admire. Communicate clearly with mentors and teachers when things are getting frustrating and you find your needs are shifting. Only YOU know the kind of career you want, the only path is yours. Seek teachers who encourage you to look outside their studio, to be curious, to have questions. Don’t be afraid to ask, even if it seems like a risk. Artists want to support one another, and often we forget that.  I left singing for over 12 years because I didn’t have the tools to communicate as clearly as I needed, so I am a huge advocate in teaching my young vocal students to truly advocate for what they need, even if they think that the powers that be might shut them down, embarrass them or never hire them again. It is still so important to communicate needs so that we can be vulnerable in this rehearsal and performing space.

CB: Thank you so much Carrie. I very much look forward to our upcoming performance. I know that people will be in for a treat, as is always the case with you!

CH: Thank you, Christian! This will be a full and satisfying program indeed!

Carrie Hennessey - Photo by @cymberella

Known for her soaring voice and richly nuanced characters, soprano Carrie Hennessey is consistently thrilling audiences and critics in opera and concert appearances around the world. As Kát’á in Kát’á Kabanová,  “in a vivid star turn in the title role...brought a wondrous blend of silvery tone and sinuous phrasing to her assignment...Hennessey’s performance touched perfectly on Katya’s anxiety, joys and uncertainty, all through a surge of Puccinian lyricism.”- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

 

The 2022/2023 season kicks off with Opera and Interstellar Voices with the Camellia Symphony, the Brahms’ Requiem and Happy Birthday, USA! with the Music in the Mountains Chorus and Orchestra, and appearances with the Bear Valley Music Festival and the Auburn Symphony.

 

Recent engagements include the title role in Kát’á Kabanová by Leoš Janáček and her illuminating the comic, awkward, and vulnerable Rose in At the Statue of Venus accompanied on piano by composer Jake Heggie. Ms. Hennessey performed the  inaugural season of the Capitol Public Radio Garden Concert Series, as soloist of operatic arias with the Cleveland Philharmonic, the world premiere of Bones of Girls by librettist, Cristina Fríes and composer, Ryan Suleiman, with The Rogue Music Project. “And Yet She Persisted” is a visceral and heartfelt recital with long time collaborator Jennifer Reason of all female composers. Debuting as Estelle in a sold out run of an immersive production in the opera The Stronger was a highlight in the Sacramento restaurant Magpie.  Song of Sacramento , a benefit that also amplified the voices of local composers.

 

Notable opera highlights include Blanche Du Bois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Sarah Miles in the Bay Area premiere of Jake Heggie’s The End of the Affair and Elle in La Voix Humaine in NYC. Concert highlights include Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder, collaborating in the development and performance of a world premiere ballet “On the Rocks, Please!”, “Bernstein 100” with the Colorado Symphony, Britten’s War Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 as well as debuts at the Concertgebouw in Bruges, in Ypres, Belgium and at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Germany singing the soprano solo in the Verdi Requiem. Alongside the world-renowned composer Ricky Ian Gordon in the fall of 2016, Ms. Hennessey gave Master Classes and performed a recital of his original art songs. 

 

Hennessey has also performed with the Houston Symphony, at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Budapest, Reduta Hall in Bratislava, Rudolfinum Hall in Prague, and at the International Mahler Festival in the Czech Republic.

 

Ms. Hennessey continues to actively support music education through lectures, workshops and Master Classes in the communities in which she works, as well as nurturing a thriving private vocal studio. She is currently in the process of writing a one woman show about her early life in singing, walking away from a singing career for 12 years and coming back to create a unique, versatile and vibrant performing and teaching career. Subscribe to her email list www.carriehennessey.com and follow on social media @carriehennessey for updates in the creative process! 

Composer Profile: Laura Schwartz in Conversation with Christian Baldini

On November 6th 2021, I will conduct the Camellia Symphony Orchestra in Sacramento in a program that includes the world première of Laura Schwartz' work "Figment". Below is a brief interview with this very talented young composer. 

Christian Baldini: Laura, it will be a pleasure to conduct the world premiere of your new piece "Figment", which you wrote for the Camellia Symphony Orchestra. Tell me, how did you approach writing this piece? In your program notes you affirm that "During this piece you hear the bones of an acoustic x-ray." Could you develop further on this very intriguing idea? 

Laura Schwartz: In my process of writing Figment, I chose a few string techniques that already have a tendency towards “noisiness”. I write music that enhances the noise elements of sounds. Examples of compositional techniques I used in Figment that have noise as an integral part of their structure are the sound of the bow hairs striking the stings, the sound a very high note that gently wavers as the player changes their bow position, and the sound of a bow bouncing in a controlled an uncontrolled manner against the strings of an instrument. I consider noise to be the bones of a sound. Noise gives a listener an awareness of space and place, as the noisiness of the piece intermingles with the noisiness (mechanical hums, fans, or wind) of a performance venue. 

CB: What are some of the things you care about the most when it comes to music (both new and old)? 

 LS: In my music composition, form is a primary way I think about my taste in music. As a composer, I care about creating a piece that teaches the audience its internal logic and boundaries. It creates a sonic environment that becomes apparent through listening. For me, it is okay if the technical nuances or musical references are lost in the first or second listen. If the form is communicated, such that a sense of expectation and subversion of expectation is generated, then it is something I find musically attractive. For instance, Haydn’s String Quartet in Eb “the Joke” and Kate Soper’s “Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say” are examples that capture this characteristic for me. 

CB: You studied at UC Davis (that's how we met, when you were still an undergraduate student), and you've developed a remarkable career already. Can you tell us about some of the most important or inspiring experiences and/or people that you've had so far? What has helped you or inspired you to continue growing and excelling as an artist? 

LS: At UC Davis, the support I had from my friends Cindy, Liz, and Kristina inspired me to continue in music. All three of them, who were not music majors, would go with me to experience the Empyrean Ensemble concerts (the new music ensemble at Davis). It became known as going to see the “weird music” with Laura. It helped me understand how a general audiences can view contemporary music, what could be picked up easily in a piece, and what would be lost. For me, learning how they listened shaped the “who” in the audience I write my music for. I strive to write music that captivates non-music specialists. In my music career, the support from my family has been immense. My mother is probably the person next to myself that has heard most of my pieces live. She is not a trained musician. She is a lover of music. Having one person who is always on my team and who is willing to take notes during a performance so that she can try to understand the conceptual nature of the piece better is a wonderful blessing. I excel because I am part of a network of support. 

CB: What would you recommend to someone who doesn't know your music yet. How should they approach it? Is there anything in particular that they should listen for? 

LS: For someone who does not know my music yet, I would recommend a short exercise. You will need your favorite piece of music, speakers, and an electric fan. Play the music while the electric fan is running. The interplay between the fan noise, the wind, and your music is what I write as my music. In approaching my music, I think of it like a logic puzzle or a mystery novel. An intriguing concept is introduced at the beginning of a piece. It is both deadly serious and mischievously lighthearted. The mystery is explored and elaborated on as clues during instrument dialogues are hinted at. How do the parts fit, blend, or contrast? Are all questions that I answer throughout the piece. I would recommend listening to the instrumental dialogues and how silence is shaded through noise. 

CB: To end this brief interview, I'd like to ask you to dream of a music festival for which you'd be the artistic director. What would you program? Which guests would you invite? Which orchestras and/or ensembles would be featured? (to make it even more difficult: you'd have unlimited funds!) 

 LS: The experience that I enjoy the most from creating music festivals is creating an immersive experience for an audience. At my dream festival, I would create a 8-week site specific event in collaboration with a local marching band, a video projection studio, and an octet that was a combined saxophone quartet and percussion quartet. I would commission four composers and four video artists to create music for this open air project. Bi-monthly would be a new premiere in the same space. As an artistic director, I strive to create scenarios that pose compositional conundrums that bridge artistic disciplines. 

CB: Thank you for your time, we look forward to performing your music! 

LS: Thank you to Christian Baldini and the musicians of the Camellia Symphony for the opportunity to write a new work for your ensemble. I look forward to listening to it.

Laura Schwartz (Photo by Natalia Banaszczy)

Laura Schwartz is composer and video projectionist. Her music explores written notation as a

facilitator of a performer’s own creativity and self-formation. She blends elements of

traditionally notation scores, verbally notated scores, and illuminated manuscripts situating the

participant in a space of their own curiosity and creativity. Schwartz uses cellphones, combs, and

cut flowers to highlight everyday technologies as shapers of our lived sound environments. She

performs guided improvisations on amplified electric fans and graphing calculators.

For more information visit www.lauraroseschwartz.com

Roger Xia in Conversation with Christian Baldini

Pianist and violinist Roger Xia will be our soloist for Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto on Saturday, February 22 with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra in Sacramento. I had the opportunity of asking Roger some questions, and below are the answers.

Christian Baldini: Roger, it is a pleasure to welcome you back once again with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra. Some years ago, you were our featured "Rising Star", performing concertos on both the violin and the piano. It is so nice to see how much you have developed since those days, and what a mature musician you have become already. Please tell us, what is special to you about performing in the Sacramento and Davis region, where you grew up?

Roger Xia: The Sacramento/Davis region is where I feel most at home and I always love performing for friends and family. I frequently reconnect with old friends, both musicians and non-musicians, at my performances and it’s a joy to catch up with them about our busy lives and future plans. Most of all, I absolutely enjoy inspiring younger children to play classical music, just as I had been inspired and supported by the community.

CB: Tell us about the Clara Schumann Piano Concerto. What is inspiring to you about her? What are some of the features and musical elements that you like the most about this concerto, and what should people listen for while you play it?

RX: For me, the most inspiring element of Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto is her boldness in incorporating a variety of styles. Some lyrical passages resemble Chopin, while other feisty, technical passages remind me of Liszt. I also like the attacca between the 3 movements of the concerto; the continuation gives the piece a nice flow and creates an unfolding storyline. I hope the audience will enjoy the affirmative and lyrical solo lines in the first movement, the intimate duet with the cello in the second, and the improvisatory, gypsy-like flair in the last movement.

CB: At your young age you've already collaborated with and worked with many wonderful musicians and teachers. Are there any experiences or people that have been particularly inspiring to you?

RX: I’m very fortunate to have started piano lessons with Linda Beaulieu when I was five, and to have continued to study with Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa and professor Richard Cionco for ten years. I’m also grateful to Dong Ho for starting me off on violin when I was six and William Barbini for teaching me during the past seven years. I’d also like to thank Maryll Goldsmith and Michael Neumann for their guidance when I was in the Sacramento Youth Symphony. Many thanks to teachers and staff members at the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College for continuously helping me develop my artistic potential. I’m also very thankful to Susan Lamb Cook’s continued support in my chamber music learning, Angelo Moreno at my school orchestra coaching. All of these mentors and supporters have inspired me to pursue my lifetime music-making journey.

CB: Why is art important? What is the role of music (and specifically, classical music) in today's world?

RX: Art is something that is unique to humans; it cannot be replaced by robots or AI. It is the most direct expression of the human soul, incorporating kindness, pain, tenderness, ecstasy, and more endless emotions. Music serves as a universal language, an outlet for all these kinds of emotions. As the only audible art form without words, music helps to connect people across the globe with all sorts of backgrounds and portray relatable experiences. Classical music is very unique in the way that it developed alongside music theory and incorporates sophisticated forms like symphonies and operas.

CB: Please tell us about your plans, dreams and wishes for your future. You have managed to continue your remarkable development on both the violin and the piano. What other passions do you have? And now that you will soon embark on your college career, what would you like to do?

RX: In addition to violin and piano, I really enjoy playing tennis and practicing Kung-Fu. moving my body around and breaking a sweat is also a great way for me to clear my mind and serves as a nice break from the academic and musical grind. Every winter, I also go to Lake Tahoe to ski as a mini-vacation with friends and family.

In college, I plan to continue playing piano and violin and participate in chamber music and orchestra ensembles. I’m also really interested in science and would like to simultaneously study academics at a university. Ultimately, I hope to combine music with science to help others.

CB: Thank you so much for your time, and we wish you all the best in your future, which will undoubtedly be remarkable. We look forward to sharing your astonishing talent with our audience very soon.

RX: Thank you Maestro Baldini and the Camellia Symphony Orchestra for inviting me back, and I’m looking forward to another great collaboration and performance!

Roger Xia, Photo by Carlin Ma

Roger Xia, Photo by Carlin Ma

Roger Xia, age 17, a senior at Davis Senior High School (DSHS), is also a San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Pre-College scholarship student.                                                                                                                                  

         Roger started piano studies at age 5 with Ms. Linda Beaulieu and continues with Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa and Professor Richard Cionco.  He took violin lessons at age 7 with Mr. Dong Ho and continues with Mr. William Barbini.  At age 10, Roger made his Carnegie Hall debuts as first prize winner of the American Fine Arts Festival (AFAF) Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition and the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition.  He won top prizes in Pacific Musical Society (PMS), Music Teacher Association of California (MTAC), United States Open Music Competition (USOMC), CMTANC/USIMC International Youth Music Competition, Diablo Valley College Competition (DVC), Sylvia Ghiglieri Piano Competition, and Classical Masters Music Competition, etc.  As the youngest participant in all three age groups, Roger was awarded the memorial scholarships sponsored by the MTAC Sacramento branch (2010, 2014, and 2017).  He also performed at the Junior Bach Festival, Bear Valley Music Festival, Orfeo International Music Festival, InterHarmony International Music Festival, and joined the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA) in the summer of 2019.  Roger won the 2015 Mondavi Young Artist Competition Pianist and Bouchaine Young Artists Prizes and was featured on the 2016 From the Top show 322.  He is also the National Young Arts Foundation merit award winner (2018) and honorable mention winner (2020) of Classical Music.  Roger played as a soloist with the Merced Symphony Orchestra (2010), Sacramento Youth Symphony (SYS) Premier Orchestra and Central Valley Youth Symphony (CVYS) Orchestra (2014), UCD Symphony Orchestra (2016), as well as the Palo Alto Philharmonic and Camellia Symphony Orchestra (2017). He was the winner of the DSHS Concerto Competition in 2018 and performed as a violin soloist with the DSHS Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in the summer of 2018. Roger is also the winner of the 2019 San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) Concerto Competition and played as a piano soloist at Davies Symphony Hall with the orchestra in the fall of 2019.

         Roger has also been studying chamber music with Susan Lamb Cook, William Barbini, Natsuki Fukasawa, Aenea Keyes, Doris Fukawa, Gwendolyn Mok, Temirzhan Yerzhanov, and Angelo Moreno.  He is a violinist and founding member of the SFCM Pre-College Division ensemble Locke Quartet, which won second prize in the 2019 ENKOR competition.  Roger has also attended the prestigious Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Summer String Quartet Workshop in 2017.  His chamber music groups in the Davis-Sacramento area won top places at USOMC (2013), Classical Masters Music Festival (2013), and VOCE competition of MTAC (2013 and 2015).  These groups have been frequently invited to perform at senior residences in the Sacramento and Davis area.  Roger has been the concertmaster of SFSYO for the past three seasons and the Europe Performance Tour in the summer of 2019.  He is the current concertmaster of the DSHS Symphony Orchestra.  He was also the concertmaster of the Holmes Junior High (HJH) Orchestra (2014-2017), the California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA) Honor Symphony Orchestra (Nov. 2016), and the SYS Premier Orchestra (2013-2015) and Classic Orchestra (2010-2011).

         Aside from music, Roger enjoys science, math, reading, and movies.  He also likes swimming, skiing, and Kung-Fu, as well as playing tennis, Ping Pong, and soccer.  Most of all, he loves sharing music-making experiences with friends in the community.

Composer Profile: Qing Olivia Yang in Conversation with Christian Baldini

On November 9, I will have the pleasure of conducting the US premiere of Qing Olivia Yang's work "Alice", with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra in Sacramento. Below is a nice exchange we had with Olivia, in preparation for the performance.

Christian Baldini: Olivia, it will be a pleasure to welcome you in Sacramento as a composer and performer to bring your piece to life in California for the first time. The work is written for voice, sampler/electronics and orchestra, and it is not very usual to have the composer serve as the performer as well, so a special treat in many ways. Please tell us about the genesis of this work, based on a lonely whale. How did you get this idea and its inspiration for your music?

Qing Olivia Yang: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to work with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra and you! I happened to read about Alice on the Internet and heard the real voice sampling of this whale. It was unable to communicate properly with other whales and was lonely because the whale had a frequency of 52Hz, compared with 15 to 25Hz for normal whales. Alice's situation reminds me of myself, and I often feel lonely like Alice: whenever some thought or action is not understood by others, especially those close to me... But I never give up expression, looking for my soul mate, just like Alice!

After seeing it, I immediately had a lot of inspirations. And I imagined expressing the resonance between human beings and animals in the form of orchestral music, electronic music and human voice: orchestral music is the sea, electronic music is Alice itself, and human voice represents human beings. These three voices sometimes appear in isolation, sometimes appear in each other indistinguishably.

I also have a unique design about the structure and style of the music. Depending on Alice's own sound motive, I develop it into a new melody, and gradually moving from impressionist music style to a contemporary music style, finally back to the original voice…I want to express the change of Alice that from happiness in the sea originally to pain, loneliness cause the unique voice of itself when it finds that and finally it calms down and go on seeking the bosom friends.

The work premiered at the opera hall of the Central Conservatory of Music(Beijing, China) on June 25, 2018. The conductor was Mr.Hao Shen(professorof CCOM), and UNAM-CCOM orchestra and I played it. After the first performance, I received a lot of good comments.

CB: Who would you say are your main influences as a composer?

QOY: There are a lot of composers I like very much. Their work impressed when I was a child, such as Bach, Vivaldi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Ligeti, and active in modern XiaogangYe, Jianping Tag, Wenjing Guo, Dun Tan, Guoping Jia, Wenchen Qin, Changyuan Liu, Binyang Li, Simon Steen Anderson, and so on.

CB: What do you try to communicate with your own music? What is special about symphonic music? Would you be interested in writing an opera?

QOY: I don’t want to limit my music or my expression by making music into a single style, but I would like to express an idea clearly in each work by “music”, because I think the form should serve the content. So before each creation, I often imagine and choose a theme to express the spirit, and then determine the appropriate form, style and structure. Of course, I am very interested in opera, I love singing since I was a child, I think the voice is one of the most direct way to express music emotions. I've written several musicals, and I want to write an opera very much!

CB: Tell us about your background. You grew up and studied in China. Who were the main influences and teachers in your life?

QOY: I started to learn the keyboard when I was five years old. After one year of learning, I could play Bach's Gigue, then my first music teacher Mr. GuohuiQiao discovered my gift and recommend me to engage in music. After a few years, I studied music composition in the middle school attached to Central Conservatory of Music. Professor Changyuan Liu is my first teacher of music composition, he is a very famous Chinese composer also. And I studied for the bachelor and master degree in the composition department of the CCOM, under Professor Jianping Tang and Guoping Jia, who are also very famous composers in China. I really appreciate all three teachers for their help with my studies and the inspiration they gave me in the road of music composition.

CB: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What would you like to be doing?

QOY: I'm not sure where I will be after 10 years. I love traveling, maybe I will be in the Antarctic when we contact one day in the future. But no matter where I am, of course I will always write as a composer, this is my career, I can't live without music.

CB: Thank you very much for your time, and we look forward to featuring your considerable talents as singer and composer in Sacramento.

QOY: Thank you, Christian. Thank you everyone! I'm looking forward to the performance on the evening of 9th November!

Qing (Olivia) Yang (born in 1992), young composer, is a resident composer of the China Broadcasting Art Troupe. Qing is also a member of the Chinese National Orchestral Society.

Qing graduated from the Attached Middle School of Central Conservatory and got her bachelor’s degree of composition from Central Conservatory of Music. In 2015, she was recommended as a graduate student majoring in composition in Central Conservatory of Music. Qing was tutored by several great Chinese composers, including professor Changyuan Liu, professor Jianping Tang, professor Guoping Jia, etc.

During her study in CCOM, Qing won a considerable amount of prizes, honors, and scholarships. Qing Yang composes an extensive range of works. The compositions have won her several prizes. Qing composes works from serious music to popular music, from classical music to fusion music, even movie soundtracks. As it comes to the genres she composes, there are solo music, chamber music and symphony for both Chinese traditional instruments and western instruments.

Qing’s compositions are well performed both domestically and internationally. Her works have been performed in Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts, Zhongshan Concert Hall, Beijing Concert Hall, Central Conservatory of Music Concert Hall, Beijing Century Theatre, Peking University Centennial Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Center Concert Hall, Taipei Zhongshan Hall, etc. There are also overseas performances in cities in Europe and North America, for example, Toronto, Tallinn, Nuremberg.

Qing cooperated with some brilliant orchestras, including China Broadcasting National Orchestra, China Broadcasting and Film Symphony Orchestra, Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Xi'an Symphony Orchestra, Taipei City Orchestra, Camellia Orchestra, Yuanyang Chamber Music Group, etc. Qing also have cooperations with Jiapeng Peng, Ling Li, Tao Fan, Hao Shen, Christian Baldini, Chunquan Qu, Bingbing Zhang, Yujue Ji and many other outstanding conductors.

The representative works of Qing can be categorized into several genres. She wrote symphonies including The Flowing River Runs into the Heart, and Alice; the symphony for national orchestra, named Overture of the National Costums; the fusion work called Screaming, solo piece called The Memory of the Tashilhunpo Monastery for the instrument Sheng; the piece for chamber music called Samatha; national symphony with a small arrangement called Songs of Chu; Concertino named Road for Konghou; soundtracks for the movie Embarrassments in Vietnam; music for stage shows called Castle in the Sky and The Magic of Panda Fairy; music for contemporary primitive dance Women of the Dai Minority in Mountains; popular song called Shining Star.

In 2017, Qing’s work Road-Trilogy was selected in the Young Composing Talent Program of the China National Arts Fund. In 2018, Qing held an exclusive concert titled Screaming performing her compositions, which was highly praised by the audiences.