Sunset ChamberFest’s Resident Audio Engineer and Videographer Louis Ng’s Distinctive Aesthetic and Upcoming Projects

left: Louis Ng; right: filming session for The Da Camera Society at The Doheny Mansion

A native of Columbus, OH, Louis Ng, founder of Lenson Productions, has been Sunset’s resident audio engineer and videographer since the start of the Festival 8 years ago. His musical path began as a violinist and pianist (he entered college as a Piano Major at CIM). Always intrigued by technology, he stumbled into an audio recording elective as a student, which combined his love for music and tech. His mentors showed him the intriguing career paths possible to him as a recording engineer, and he has been focusing on recording ever since. Louis tells us about his distinctive recording aesthetic and the exciting projects he is working on.

Thomas Kotcheff Performs Tea for Two (Jordan Nelson) at Zipper Hall

One of the best qualities of your recordings is that they depict the artists - visually and aurally - in an honest manner, while keeping the music at the forefront. Your more recent videos maintain these qualities, but have a darker atmosphere. Can you discuss your recording philosophy, and how your aesthetic has evolved?

Thanks for your kind words! What I hope to achieve with each recording project is to preserve and show others what I felt and experienced during the performance. A lot of my audio-related decisions are based around trying to replicate the tonal qualities of the performers, their instruments, their blend as an ensemble, and how they sound within the space. Jumping specifically to my Classical music video work, it is true that much of my work tends to be on the darker side visually. There are a number of technical and artistic reasons why I've gravitated towards this type of look. I would say that a big reason that motivates me is to bring the virtual audience something different than what we're used to seeing. Classical performance videos tend to have a common look. The musician is on a wooden stage surrounded by other materials with yellow/brown hues, brightly lit by powerful warm stage lights at various angles - we've all seen these videos! I want to bring something different to the table. My natural inclination is to go darker and to hopefully use the lack of lights to "illuminate" elements of the music and performance. In addition, I also aim to blur the division between performer and audience. I hope that viewers of my music video work feel less like "I'm sitting here watching a performance", but more like a participant in the performance. Thankfully, I've been privileged to work with musicians and composers who have challenged me to bring them something new, allowing me to let my artistic voice evolve over the years.

Could you tell us about your relationship with Chamber Music OC (the venue for Sunset’s online concerts this year) and their new recording facilities? 

I've been recording for Chamber Music OC since their premiere season in 2012. They have recently acquired a large space in Lake Forest. A portion of this is a great sounding performance space with installed recording equipment, like multiple wall-mounted cameras, microphones, and a recording booth filled with audio/video gear for high-end recording and live-streaming. Most recently, I taught an ‘Introduction to Audio Recording’ class to the CMOC students! 

SAKURA Performs Sarabande by Peter Myers at Chamber Music OC

 What plans and projects do you have coming up? 

In addition to my recent work with Sunset ChamberFest, I'm excited for a number of projects that are currently wrapping up or will be released very soon. Here's a quick overview of what's been going on lately:

Videos

I've filmed three performances for The Da Camera Society that will be released very soon. The projects to showcase music from within a historical space. I was excited to film in the beautiful Pompeian Room of the Doheny Mansion. 

For Salastina I’ve recorded several music videos of new compositions by young composers, combining mixed media and exciting electroacoustic elements. 

I'm in the middle of approximately 30 total days of recording for the Hear Now Music Festival - a lot of exciting new works! 

Albums

Vijay Gupta’s debut album was recently released. It's an awesome program combining works by Reena Esmail, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Bach! 

There are a few forthcoming albums from HOCKET and Trio Céleste that I can't wait for people to hear.

Jazz

And for something non-Classical: I've recorded a jazz concert series for Piano Spheres, featuring Gerald Clayton, Joshua White, and Roger Kellaway. Those videos should be out soon.

left: Gerald Clayton; right: Joshua White, photos courtesy of Piano Spheres

Lastly, people can check out my most recent music video project with SAKURA Cello Quintet. It's of a beautiful piece written by SAKURA member, Peter Myers.