Second-year undergraduate student Jason Chen is a physics major and member of the UC Davis Concert Band. On March 8, the Concert Band will premiere ”Noctilucence,” a composition by Chen, at Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

The Los Angeles native, who began composing in ninth grade, composed and orchestrated “Noctilucence” in his senior year of high school. The title comes from a type of high-altitude cloud that has an ethereal shining quality that only happens at night. 

Chen, who plays piano and percussion for Concert Band, submitted the composition to Pete Nowlen, band director, in 2022. The band read through it and Nowlen agreed to put it on a program. The work was composed and orchestrated on a computer.

“Noctilucence” is part of the Concert Band’s program, which also includes Leonard Bernstein’s Candide Suite, Arturo Marquez’s Paisajes Bajo el Signo de Cosmos (Landscapes under the Sign of the Cosmos), and John Mackey’s Sheltering Sky. 

For details, visit the concert webpage.