San Francisco has a new art and performance space, courtesy of some SFCM alumni.

Atelier Kromatica founder Tin Yi Chelsea Wong (piano, '19) has been seen around San Francisco as part of her work staging piano performances in unexpected locations like the iconic Palace of Fine Arts and the city's beaches. She was able to acquire a piano-moving robot to help her with this, and wound up collecting a number of pianos people were giving away online for use in large-scale art projects. Wong had been a friend and collaborator of Yunyi Ji ('23, piano and harpsichord), and Ji, having recently founded Parallax Concerts with Hasan Abualhaj ('23, Baroque cello) was looking for a space for Parallax's own collection of historical instruments.

Yunyi Ji, Hasan Abualhaj, and Tin Yi Chelsea Wong.

"We were all ready to take a bigger next step in our careers, and we needed a venue to really do the kind of art that we see fit without being restricted by concert producers as to what we can or cannot program, play, or wear," Wong says. "That was really crucial for our artistic integrity and expression."

Atelier Kromatica.

All three share a mentor in Mauro ffortissimo, whose annual Flower Piano series in the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park is a beloved annual event (and frequently sees SFCM students perform as part of). "We're a link in the chain of this movement throughout San Francisco history of, 'How do we interact with the public in our art and bring it to public spaces?' So far we've done immersive shows with art installations, we had a cabaret show, we've had poetry readings."

Ji adds, "Between Hassan and Chelsea and I, we were looking to have a shared canvas that could be our way of getting our medium out, but we're offering that to the city of San Francisco and to our collaborators. This isn't exactly Parallax's space or Chelsea's entirely—though Chelsea is doing all of the logistical direction and this could not have happened without her—but Atelier Kromatica does not necessarily belong to us. We don't guard it like that and we want this to serve others as much as it serves ourselves."

Wong has been able to secure funding through corporate matching to fund the space through up to summer 2027, and continues to seek funding to support the venue and the impact of its projects. "Our funding allows for a very generous rate for collaborators to use our space. We're not trying to make money off of our artistic community," she says. "Our priority is really making sure that the artist is getting taken care of, and that they have the least amount of constraints to see their visions come true."

"We had a lot of success with our debut show, Genesis, at St. Joseph's," Abualhaj says of Parallax Concerts. "And people wanted to have a reprise concert, so we were able to offer that at Atelier Kromatica while we're still fostering that relationship with St. Joseph's. That's the helpful aspect of this space, that Parallax can continue to work with outside collaborators but there's also the ability for Kromatica to be its own space. We have two historical instruments in the space, and we know how difficult it is sometimes within the historical performance field to find community and to get resources, so we're like, 'Hey, if you're trying to figure out all the same things we are, and need help, then come on in.'"

Wong finishes, "This is something that we did for ourselves, but it goes beyond ourselves in the spirit of resource sharing and togetherness to make these changes in the arts and bring things back to the community. That's the whole reason we did this: Between the three of us, there's immense trust in building our projects together, and that trust is what radiates out."

Learn more about Atelier Kromatica or studying piano, Baroque cello, or harpsichord at SFCM.