Mingjia - star, star

Mingjia

star, star

On Friday, November 17, 2023, Mingjia, the vocalist, composer, songwriter, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist lauded for her ability to “synthesize multiple influences into a unique, modern style” (The Whole Note), and whose compositions “communicate an opera’s worth of feelings and emotions, firing all of our senses together at once” (Dominionated), released her new album, star, star, via New Amsterdam Records. star, star is a collection of kaleidoscopic, through-composed, and emotionally charged songs written by Mingjia for herself and the Tortoise Orchestra, a Toronto-based 13-piece chamber ensemble that marries courageous songwriting with curious, colorful orchestration, and improvisation.

Throughout star, star, Mingjia utilizes songs as a means of exploring stories that are inspired by her life, Chinese mythology, and the world around her. In her words, she creates “little worlds of magical realism, wherein the story is truer than the outcome, little bubbles that are all their own. The story does not merely arrive at the truth; the story itself becomes the truth.”

star, star is a collection of songs written by Chen for herself and the Tortoise Orchestra — a Toronto-based 13-piece chamber ensemble that marries courageous songwriting with curious, colorful orchestration, and improvisation.
The album also features the voices of Chens friends telling magically real stories throughout. “Following in the tradition laid out by the Tortoise Orchestra EP feel seen, I interviewed and played story-telling games with my friends & neighbors, which i then edited the recordings into sound collages that form the skeleton of the album.
The stories told through this album are twofold — outward and inward: the stories it tells to listener, you, and the stories it tells the writer, me. The act of completing this record tells a story about the kind of faith in myself that I want to lead my actions with, and love that I am surrounded by. A story I kept telling myself over the last four years is that I have had so much support from my friends and family in the making of this album that it would be physically impossible not to succeed.
This album is what I have to show for in the face of shame. The way to stand up to one’s shame is not necessarily always to prove it wrong, but I'm glad I did. I hope you can find some of yourself in my stories. I hope you will tell your story, and that I can meet you there.”

Track Listing
1. Sane / the dancer
2. **-*
3. & then
4. Losing / the dancer II
5. Saint
6. Everything looks prettier from afar
7. Moon songs mvt I - & time is but a sound
8. Moon songs mvt II - dusk, dawn
9. Moon songs mvt III - sun, ocean
10. Moon songs mvt IV - & the birds could not sit still
11. Madam
Credits
compositions & lyrics by Mingjia Chen
produced by Paul Barton & Mingjia Chen
Tortoise Orchestra is:
Mingjia Chen
- voice, guzheng, electronics
Tom Upjohn
- conductor
Anh Phung
- flute
Jeff Larochelle
- clarinet, flute
Naomi Brigid McCarroll-Butler
- bass clarinet, alto flute, alto saxophone
Aaron Paris
- violin
Meghan Cheng
- violin
Clara Nguyen-Tran
- viola
Jill Sauerteig
- cello (tracks 1-2, 4-11)
Evan Lamberton
- cello (tracks 3 & 12)
Ben Heard
- upright bass
Ewen Farncombe
- piano, synth
Jillana Nickel
- vibraphone, glockenspiel
Mark Ritter
- electric, nylon string, & acoustic guitars
the choir (tracks 5 & 6) is:
- Linnea Sablosky
- Erika Poh
- Grace Miedziak
- Erin Mihalka
- Rohan Ramanan
- Karl McComas-Reichl
- Luc Kleiner
- Raymond Ortiz
storytellers are:
- Sam Boer
- Andie Trepanier
- Emily Steinwall
- Nebyu Yohannes
- Lieke Van Der Voort
- Tiffany Wu
- Diego Hinojosa
Việt
- voice (track 4)
Gabe Miller
- voice (track 2)
additional production by:
Hunjiya (tracks 2, 4, 5)
David Steinmetz (track 4)
Andrew Feels (track 10)
Mingjia & Tortoise Orchestra was recorded at Canterbury Music Company by Andrew Mullin, assisted by Julian Decorte & produced by Paul Barton.
choir was recorded at Knob World by Lewis Pesacov, assisted by Garrett Lang & produced by Dory Bavarsky.
additional recording by Gabe Miller, Mark Ritter, Amir Mehrabi, Ashley Fulton & Mingjia Chen
edited by Tom Upjohn with additional editing by Kohen Hammond, Ashley Fulton & Mingjia Chen
mixed by Andrew Mullin
mastered by Michael Hammond at Figure 8 recording
artwork & design by Mingjia Chen
funded by the Ontario Arts Council & the Toronto Arts Council