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Ensemble Dal Niente Premieres Lei Liang's Rain Under the Sea at Chicago's Frequency Festival

Feb. 27, 2026

Ensemble Dal Niente returned to Chicago’s Frequency Festival on February 27 with a program that showcased an eclectic group of composers and included the world premiere of Rain Under the Sea by Lei Liang along with works by Ayanna Woods, Chaya Czernowin, José Julio Diaz Infante, and Helmut Lachenmann. Liang notes:

"For centuries, composers in the Western tradition have drawn inspiration from the sea, often through mythologies and human-centered imaginings of the ocean. What sets our project apart is more than eight years of close collaboration between composer Lei Liang and oceanographer Joshua Jones in preparation for this composition. Together with the Lei Lab team, we have explored underwater soundscapes that reveal the ocean’s extraordinary richness—from the birth of Arctic ice to the social calls of beluga whales and the echolocations of diverse marine mammals. By listening and working together, we aim to shift perspective: not viewing the ocean from the comfort of a beach chair, but from beneath its surface. Our ocean is in crisis, and its sounds are telling us a story."

Rain Under the Sea was commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation for the Dal Niente Ensemble.

Explore Lei Lab's journey into the realms below and beyond human hearing:

Lei Lab: The Inaudible Ocean

To learn more about Lei Liang, visit schott-music.com.

Lei Liang
Rain Under the Sea (2025)
for ensemble
2sop-fl.cl.hp.pno.perc.vn.vc
15'

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