Cambria Master Recordings is pleased to announce Festive River featuring the music of Joan Huang. Through her compositions, Ms. Huang chronicles her personal journey adapting musical idioms and ideas from both Eastern and Western cultures. Huang grew up and received her early music education with her parents in Shanghai, China. Unfortunately, during her teenage years, she was subjected to the miserable experiences of the disastrous Culture Revolution of Mao-Tse Tung. Under intense political pressure, she was sent to a state farm for "re-education" including daily heavy manual labor for three years. During the time on the farm, she had the opportunity to learn authentic Chinese traditional music from the local farmers. In 1986, she emigrated to the United States to continue her education at UCLA and studied with Elaine Barkin, William Kraft and Roger Bourland. She also became interested in creating a style of fusion between Chinese traditional musical language and Western contemporary compositional techniques. Ms. Huang has received several awards including two from Phi Beta Kappa for international students, the Tanglewood Music Festival Fellowship and two Aspen Music Festival Scholarships. She has received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pittsburg New Music ensemble. This release includes her compositions Along the River During the Qingming Festival, Orphan San Mao, and Bird Twitters from Altadena - all performed by the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble.