House on Fire: Carbon Copy

House on Fire, a trio consisting of Andrew Anderson, Wells Leng, and Richard An, was formed around their common interest in new music and is centered around their shared focus as pianists. When performing or commissioning repertoire for three pianists, we frequently encounter the matter of homogeneity: How do you write for three people who ostensibly do the same thing? The pieces on this program each contend with the “three pianist” conundrum in different ways. Some put the performers on keyboards of distinct timbres to encourage a multiplicity of sounds. Others play into the “sameness” and employ the implicit uniformity of the keyboard to create a selfsame texture.

PROGRAM:
Tristan Perich – qsqsqsqsqqqqqqqqq
Erin Rogers – new Piano Spheres commission
Wells Leng – new work, for two pianos and percussion
Erich Barganier – selections from Interstate Glitches
Matthias Kranebitter – Pitch Study no. 2
Richard An – Will it Play?
Yifeng Yvonne Yuan – I wrote you a letter. (A letter is what I wrote to you.)

BIOGRAPHY:
House on Fire is a new music ensemble consisting of Wells Leng, Richard An, and Andrew Anderson. Though centered around their shared focus as pianists, each member’s multi-instrumentalism allows for expanded repertoire including cello, percussion, toy piano and other keyboard instruments.

Close friends since their time at the California Institute of the Arts, the group was formally introduced in December 2021, and is dedicated to the performance of new and experimental music, as well as the work of Southern California composers, championing the music of its own members and close collaborators.

We get along like a house on fire.

House on Fire is the Piano Spheres 2025-26 Emerging Artist.