Songs of the Earth Festival: The Art of Indonesian Gamelan

Gamelan of the New Moon performs modern and traditional music of Indonesia. Our goal is to educate the public through performance of the beauty that is Indonesian Gamelan music. We are a community orchestra of players utilizing bronze gongs, metallophones and drums played with hammers and mallets. The majority of members have played in other Gamelans across the United States, and have been taught by masters of the genre from Indonesia. Come experience the otherworldly sounds of this Houston treasure

MuChen (Jessica) Hsieh, from Taiwan, joined the Houston Symphony as principal second violin in 2017. Prior to her appointment in Houston, she worked with conductors including Thomas Adès, Charles Dutoit, Larry Rachleff, David Robertson, Joshua Weilerstein, and Hugh Wolff. She studied with Kathleen Winkler at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and Malcolm Lowe and Masuko Ushioda at the New England Conservatory.

Hsieh regularly performs recitals, chamber music concerts, and in orchestras in the United States and Taiwan. Her festival performances include New York String Orchestra, Sarasota Festival Orchestra, and Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra. Hsieh has served as concertmaster of the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, including for the orchestra’s 2016 tour to Carnegie Hall. She has also performed with the New York Philharmonic as a Zarin Mehta Global Academy Fellow.

An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with James Dunham, Jon Kimura Parker, Kathleen Winkler, and Larry Wheeler. When Hsieh is home in Taiwan, she enjoys organizing chamber music concerts with friends. She also has a passion for coaching and leading local orchestra concerts during the summer in Taiwan with the concertmaster of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Ray-Chou Chang.

Aside from playing violin, Hsieh enjoys cooking and baking with friends, jogging, or dreaming about getting a dog.

A winner of international competitions, Tong Yan has claimed first prize at the International Music Competition of Union Francaise des Artistes Musiciens in Paris, International Violin Competition in Kazakhstan, International Chinese Violin Competition in New York, and string winner at the Gisborne International Orchestral Instruments Competition in New Zealand. She has also placed in the top three at the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy and the Brahms International Violin Competition in Austria. Yan has had many recitals and solo performances with orchestras in Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, China, Canada, and the United States.

Yan is currently an active chamber musician and has participated in festivals such as the Summer Strings Academy in Australia, Canada’s Morningside Music Bridge, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Bar Harbor Music Festival in Maine, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Spoleto Music Festival in South Carolina, Britt Music Festival in Oregon, and the Meadowmount Summer School in New York.

Yan joined the Houston Symphony in 2012 while pursuing her Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein. She also holds a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory, and a split bachelor’s degree from the Vienna University of Fine Arts, Joseph Haydn Conservatory, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Elisabeth Kropfitsch, Klaus Maetzl, and Marilyn McDonald.

Samuel Pedersen was appointed to the Houston Symphony viola section in April 2022. Prior to joining, he was a member of the New World Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Other engagements have been with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Music Festival, Houston Grand Opera, and New York Philharmonic as a Global Academy fellow.

In addition to spending one summer as an orchestral fellow, Pedersen was a member of the New Fromm Players for two years at the Tanglewood Music Center. It was there that he dedicated time to the preparation and performance of contemporary repertoire, working alongside leading composers in the field. Highlights include the U.S. Premiere of Julian Anderson’s Third String Quartet as well as the World Premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ Magic Box, for String Quartet and Percussion Quartet. His chamber music studies include mentors such as Norman Fischer, Andrew Jennings, Dawn Upshaw, and members of the Juilliard, Brentano and Pacifica quartets. Previous summers have been spent performing at the Madeline Island, National Repertory Orchestra, and Bowdoin music festivals.

Pedersen was raised in Batavia, IL. He holds a master’s degree from Rice University and a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University. Principal teachers include Ivo van der Werff and Rami Solomonow, with additional instruction from Lawrence Neuman and Joan DerHovsepian.

Outside of the orchestra, Pedersen enjoys cycling, frisbee, and spending time with his brother, Andrew, member of the Houston Symphony double bass section.

Louis-Marie Fardet was appointed cellist with the Houston Symphony in January 2015. Previously, he served as assistant principal cellist for the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet. Prior to moving to Houston, he was a tenured member of L’Opéra de Paris Orchestra for five years. Born in Rochefort, the south-west coast of France, Fardet moved to Paris to pursue his cello studies at the prestigious Paris Conservatory and then came to Houston in 1999 to study with Paul Katz at Rice University.

Fardet has won top prizes at several international competitions, including the Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in Zagreb, Croatia and the Ima Hogg Competition in Houston, and has participated in numerous international music festivals such as the Ravinia Festival, Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall, and Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem.