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In his newest release, cellist Bion Tsang returns to Glasgow, Scotland for his second recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Scott Yoo. Cantabile, available from Universal Music Group, features two works by Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme (Op. 33) and Andante Cantabile (Op. 11), and Schumann's Cello Concerto, bookended by two renditions of Pablo Casals' "Song of the Birds." Cantabile opens with Casals' "Song of the Birds" for cello and orchestra, setting an intention for the album's romantic arc. The mood lifts with the elegant and virtuosic Variations on a Rococo Theme of Tchaikovsky, which is followed by the heart-wrenching Schumann Cello Concerto. The beloved, lyrical Andante Cantabile by Tchaikovksy and Tsang's own arrangement for unaccompanied cello of "Song of the Birds" complete the album. "My father, Paul Ja-Min Tsang, aspired to be a singer," says Michigan-born Tsang, who dedicated Cantabile to his father's memory: "Born in Shanghai, raised in the Fujian province in the 1940s and Taiwan in the 1950s, he was steered towards science and not afforded that opportunity. From my first concerto performance in 1979, he supported me to become a concert cellist. I'm grateful that he lived to see my dreams come true before his death in 1998. My dad loved the cello for its singing voice and always encouraged me to find my voice as a musician." - Bion Tsang