“Viet Cuong is an exciting young composer…. Inspired by everyday sounds, some of his work has been written for objects such as crystal wine glasses or an ordinary hair comb,” writes Lily O’Brien in Monday’s (5/9) San Francisco Classical Voice. “His work has been performed by such diverse ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, Sandbox Percussion, and the PRISM Quartet. The son of Vietnamese immigrants, Cuong, just 31, was born in California, grew up in Georgia, and studied music composition at Peabody Institute, Princeton University, and Curtis Institute of Music…. Currently the Young American Composer-in-Residence with California Symphony (2020–2023), Cuong has been commissioned to write three original pieces for them. The first one, Next Week’s Trees … for string orchestra, was inspired by a Mary Oliver poem ‘Walking to Oak-Head Pond and Thinking of the Ponds I will Visit in the Next Days and Weeks,’ and premiered last May online. It will be performed live on [May 14-15] in Walnut Creek…. Cuong [developed] his second piece, Chance of Rain, … with the California Symphony in January of this year…. Originally scheduled to premiere in May of 2022, Chance of Rain will have its live premiere instead sometime in 2023.”
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