Tian Hui Ng awarded the Meribeth E. Cameron Faculty Award for Scholarship

Regarding the explosive emergence of Professor Tian Hui Ng’s mythical persona at Mount Holyoke College in 2011: An abnormally large and early snowfall had threatened to cancel a pre-Halloween concert by the college’s Symphony Orchestra. With roads closed and numerous power lines down, the vast majority of students were stranded on campus for a weekend evening, and a large contingent made their way through the campus to Abbey Chapel to hear what was now, literally, “the only show in town”. Inside the chapel the lights went completely dark; with a small sliver of lighting, Tian – resplendent in shimmering wizard’s robes – made his way to the podium in silence, then deftly drew a vintage Olivander wand from his sleeve; the tip of the wand lit, Tian raised it and gave a subtle downbeat; percussionist Hyeonjin Park ’15 slowly commenced the lilting opening notes on glockenspiel to “Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams; a great Lyon’s roar of approval erupted from the assembled, and the orchestra joined in with the full theme and other music from the Harry Potter soundtracks, followed by other works. Some students were in costume, some were not, but all of them waltzed, polkaed, and cheered on their colleagues for the next two hours. After the concert, the giddy audience dispersed through the snow and the new, and frankly dangerous, obstacle course of fallen tree limbs. Both physically and culturally Mount Holyoke’s campus had irrevocably changed that night.

The Monster’s Ball tradition – and its own rituals of debauchery – began with Tian’s arrival that fall, along with the expectation for innovation, spectacle, engagement, excitement, celebration and musical brilliance in all of the Symphony Orchestra’s endeavors. He also inaugurated the annual Mary Lyon Concerts celebrating the compositions and contributions of women in music. He has premiered a number of powerful new works with the orchestra, including Mary D. Watkins’s opera Dark River – the Fannie Lou Hamer Story, Nkeiru Okoye’s monodrama Invitation to a Die-In, two of Professor Olabode Omojola’s African operas, Ìrìn Àjò, and Funmilayo, and last fall, Jerod Ipichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker), the first opera to be sung completely in a Native American language. The orchestra has accompanied a number of notable soloists such as transgender piano virtuoso Sara Davis Buechner, and also created challenging programs of new music such as 2016’s Metamorphonics concert featuring choreography by MHC Professor of Dance Rose Flachs, interactive video art, and live electronic sound. These represent but a small sampling of the wide-ranging events that Tian has brought to the Mount Holyoke campus over the last thirteen years, and, accordingly, it should come as no surprise that he and the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra were awarded the American Prize in Orchestral Programming for 2015.

Professionally, Tian has held extended conducting posts at the University of Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley Symphony, the Springfield Symphony, and the New England Philharmonic. He is also the conductor, artistic director and founder of the MIFA Victory Players, a stellar new music chamber ensemble based in Holyoke who have commissioned a number of new works including the music of Puerto Rican composers.

While this is indeed the place to laud Professor Ng for his accomplishments, there is literally no more space to address the myriad other groups and musicians with whom he has worked and composers whose efforts he has brought to sonic life, not to mention his recent Herculean feat of serving as Chair for three departments simultaneously. Mount Holyoke College expresses its gratitude and commendation to Professor Tian Hui Ng in awarding him the Meribeth E. Cameron Award for Faculty Scholarship.