2000 **Psyche and Eros**. For Storyteller and Chamber Orchestra. Commissioned by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. Premere in Spring 2001. With storyteller Margaret Olivia Wolfson. [[SELF LICENSED]] #selflicensed Musically and otherwise, the event was ``Made in America,'' and the goods were first-rate. Composer Michael Ching, 41, is a protege of masters Robert Ward and Carlisle Floyd, and like his mentors', Ching's principal works are operas. His lyrical and tonal music has no awkwardness getting from one theme to another or arriving from bustling activity into reflective, emotional states. Ching's ``Psyche and Eros: A Play for Actor and String Orchestra'' certainly covers terrain strewn with land mines. It was composed with performance artist Margaret Olivia Wolfson, who wrote the script and who performed engagingly Sunday. (``It was all done by e-mail,'' Ching confided later.) The myth of Psyche (soul) and Eros (love) seems a distant antique until you parse its meaning: Partnership works only if one trusts and commits to the other. Mulling over moral commitment is what you do after an inspiring performance. Wolfson, garbed in purple satin, made this one delightfully conversational; the acting paled only during efforts to sound like an oracle. The narration wouldn't have worked without such a felicitous partnership. Ching's flow and sequences make intriguing sense. To get an idea of the sonorities, think Prokofiev's ``Peter and the Wolf'' or Stravinsky's ``The Soldier's Tale'' -- but scored only for strings. Like these, ``Psyche and Eros'' has an inevitability about it. It has an accomplished scope and pace -- and energy. Melodies float up and about with familiarity. The orchestra gave vigor and affection to music that could make an ideal presentation for junior high or high school audiences. Possibly even younger. BY LESLEY VALDES San Jose Mercury News Something of considerable artistic importance is happening in the music scene of the South Bay, driven by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra's clever, whimsical, and daring repertory, thanks to the orchestra's music director, Barbara Day Turner. ...the world premiere of a collaboration between a Memphis opera composer, Michael Ching, and a California/New York actor/storyteller, Margaret Olivia Wolfson, [entitled] Psyche and Eros: A Play for Solo Actor and String Orchestra. The Ching/Wolfson collaboration is simply marvelous. I will be astonished if it does not rush headfirst into both the orchestral repertory and an actor's collection of things to do. It's either like being told a great story with musical accompaniment or hearing a wonderful piece of music made more engaging by a narrator. Still, it would be wrong to describe Wolfson's role as that of a narrator. Here, acting, not reading a script, she dominates by playing multiple memorized roles, using small hand motions (to imitate butterflies), large body motions (to imitate a reed blowing in the wind), and even singing. The bulk of the piece is spent telling the story of Psyche from her own point view. Only occasionally does the actor represent Psyche's mortal lover, the god Eros. Further, most of the non-Psyche and non-Eros voices are those of women, such as Eros' mother, Aphrodite. Because the music runs the gamut of dynamics, the actor must be amplified yet free to inhabit all areas of the stage and most of what was said was quite audible. Ching is a gifted composer capable of turning out well-crafted music, very romantic when the occasion dictates and frightening when that is called for. In the work, the solo violin part that portrays the love the two title characters have for each other, was beautifully performed by Cynthia Baehr. San Francisco Classical Voice May 21, 00 By Dan Leeson