CHROMOPHOBIA - Percussion Ensemble by Sebastian Zhang [Audio]

CHROMOPHOBIA is scored for a fifteen player advanced high school/early collegiate percussion orchestra. It was written over the course of 2020 and early 2021.

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An oddity in the Chinese language is how many characters are composed of component characters that seemingly have little to no relation to their final meanings. Such is true for the Chinese character for rainbow.

The left half of the Chinese character for rainbow (虹 [hóng]), by itself, is a character that can be taken to mean monster. There is a pervading sense of danger and dread that accompanies rainbows in traditional Chinese culture. When I asked my mother about why that was, she speculated that it was because rainbows were a strange phenomenon that people didn't understand, and that many people liked to fear anything they could not understand.

CHROMOPHOBIA was written when reflecting on this fear of rainbows, and by extension, the fear of wonderful things due to a lack of understanding. It is that type of fear that can spark prejudice and discrimination in our society. This piece reflects that, with perseverance and a drive to not only stand up for ourselves but stand up for others, we can overcome such prejudice.

CHROMOPHOBIA is dedicated to the 2020-2021 Allen High School percussion studio, and was premiered by the school’s combined Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony percussion under the direction of Miles Locke on May 8th, 2021 at the Allen ISD Performing Arts Center.

The four years I have spent in this program have been amazing. There are so many wonderful people that I have met through this studio, from the fantastic teachers to friends that I'm sure will last a lifetime. Thank you.