Share this page using one of the following services:

• Facebook
• Twitter

• Stumble Upon

• Reddit
• Digg

What is this?

March 10, 2009 - Stanford computer-science graduate turned singer-songwriter Vienna Teng did a complete turnaround when she opted out of a lucrative career as a software engineer in the Silicon Valley to pursue music. Classically trained on the piano since the age of 5, Teng evokes Chopin in her playing, while her breathy and powerful alto brings to mind Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos. Teng released two successful independent albums before making her major-label debut, Dreaming Through the Noise, in 2006. (Teng is currently busy in the studio, polishing off her fourth CD for a 2009 release.) Here, producer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Wong accompanies Teng on percussion, glockenspiel and melodica.

In keeping with the nurturing environment of Northern California where she met Wong, Teng turns the stage over to him for a song by his own band, Paper Raincoat. Written by Wong and Devon Copley, "Brooklyn Blurs" takes a melody from The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Later, Teng and Wong preview a song from the new record: the modern blues number "Grandmother Song."

This segment originally ran Oct. 9, 2008.