Sonic Blossom involves local singers in a designed costume approaching a visitor within the museum galleries to offer a gift of a song—the singer’s choice of one of five Franz Schubert’s Lieder (Songs), accompanied by a piano recording. Begun in 2013, this ongoing participatory performance installation with chair, music stand, costume and spontaneous song was developed by Lee Mingwei while taking care of his mother when she was recuperating from surgery. Inspired by the fact they both found solace in listening to Schubert’s Lieder, the project takes the form of “gift-giving” of the Lied to invite a moment of catharsis, joy, and connection.

Curated for Crystal Bridges by Xuxa Rodriguez, assistant curator, contemporary art, Sonic Blossom has toured in Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Boston, Taipei, New York, Sydney, Auckland, Frankfurt, Singapore, Washington DC, Paris, Jakarta, Cleveland, Berlin, Metz, Munich, and Helsinki and was selected as “The Best Classical Music of 2015” and “The Best in Art of 2015” in The New York Times for its presentation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.