Miss Ying-Ning was commissioned by the Composers Guild of New Jersey for the Argus Quartet’s 2019-20 Season. It draws inspiration from a story in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, a collection of Chinese folk tales by Qing dynasty scholar Pu Songling. In seven movements, the music depicts the plotline of how the man and the half-fox girl meet, fall in love, get married, and fight for justice together.

Miss Ying-Ning can be played with or without narration; the text can be narrated by any performer or performers, or a narrator.

Thanks to the Argus Quartet, who came up with the brilliant idea as well as the text that is added in between movements, and to my friend, clarinetist Dr. Joshua Anderson, who helped refine the text with delicate retention of the originality of the story, as well as a fine touch of the lyrical artistry.