A cymbal’s crash and the boom of timpani drums echoed through Nobel Commons, followed by a swell in sound from the violins and beautiful accompaniment by the rest of the orchestra.

This was the scene as students gathered all around Kai Wang to see his fire-red orchestra perform a piece composed and conducted entirely by Wang for the Lunar New Year. The soaring feeling produced by the string instruments coupled with the accented bangs of the percussion made for a composition of exceptional quality, and one with a composition process unique to this Jefferson student.

Jefferson’s Symphonic Orchestra gave their first full orchestra performance composed and conducted entirely by a student on Feb. 15 during the Lunar New Year celebration. Senior orchestra co-president Kai Wang spent months composing a piece with the goal of presenting his Chinese culture to the community.

The result of his work was a seven minute piece incorporating a full orchestra and several band instruments, each with their own part composed by Wang.

Wang began composing prior to high school, teaching himself during the pandemic. On top of being first chair in Symphonic Orchestra, Kai plays the cello, piano, and several other instruments. He adopted the alias of “Yours Truly” for the Lunar New Year performance.

“I’ve always kind of wanted to make music, so I’ve been producing for a while. In middle school is when I started making beats,” Wang said. “I listen to my favorite songs and pieces, then figure out how to play them on the piano.”

Wang’s composing started with learning how to replicate, but he eventually learned how to add his own touch to music he liked.

“Usually when you’re learning you kind of just want to do exactly what the music did. But then when you start to try and add your own stuff what happens is you add your own flavor to it. I just start playing things and try to see what works and what sounds good and what doesn’t,” Wang said.

Orchestra director Allison Bailey mentored Wang throughout his composing process.

“Every time I want an opportunity, she finds a way to make it work. She was moving back and forth trying to figure out how to organize everybody,” Wang said. “She always really helps me bring out my music.”

The whole foundation of the performance comes from Wang’s Chinese roots. For the composing process he listened to typical Chinese music to learn patterns that it frequented and to have a good understanding of what makes Chinese and Asian music unique.

“There’s not a whole lot of Chinese New Year spirit around [Jefferson]. I thought it’d be so cool if we just started incorporating music to elevate that,” Wang said. “Asian music has this wild sort of flavor that you don’t find in Western music, and I do a lot of wild pieces.”

Wang believes the performance would not be possible without the cooperation of the Symphonic Orchestra and band players. During lunchtime, the full orchestra crammed into the orchestra room and rehearsed, conducted by Wang.

“I was so thankful because I’ve never composed for a full orchestra before. When everybody [came] in on time, and people [followed] my cues, I was just like ‘Thank you, baby Jesus,’” Wang said.

This story was originally published on tjTODAY on February 26, 2024.