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Vienna Teng, the daughter of Chinese immigrant parents, quit her job at Cisco Systems to pursue music. The move paid off. Her latest album, "Inland Territory," is full of introspective songs and elaborate arrangements. The 31-year-old is stopping by the Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring Performing Arts Center with collaborator Alex Wong on Saturday for an Institute of Musical Traditions concert.

Jordan Edwards: How did the making of "Inland Territory" compare to other projects you had worked on?

Vienna Teng: It was a lot more work in the best of ways. It was really the first time that I wasn't working with a producer that I had been introduced to at the beginning of the recording project. Alex and I had been friends for a long time and had always wanted to work together. We had the great gift of a recording budget from a label like Rounder Records. We sat down and said, "Well, what are we going to do with this?" We sort of let our imaginations run.

JE: What about your partnership with Alex makes it work?

VT: I think it's that magical combination of having exactly the same sensibilities in certain ways and very different in other ways, so I think it's the perfect mix. I think we both like the same things in songwriting and live performance. Our tastes are kind of diverse. He comes from a percussive production perspective, and I come from a singer and piano player's perspective. I really love that combination.

JE: Why did you decide to include several different instruments instead of sticking with piano, bass and drums?

VT: At the beginning of the preproduction process, I sat down with Alex with these demos of the songs. I remember at the time thinking, is this even an album? These songs are all so different. I was definitely not against making an album with a certain sound or certain instrumentation. I think my next album may be like that. But for this album, the [different instruments] are there because that's where the songs led us. One song needed two drum kits. Another didn't need drums at all.

JE: Well, it was the first time you had the budget and the clout to pull in all these guest artists.

VT: Exactly. That was a really good feeling, actually. We started drawing up this dream list of artists. It was like, "It would be amazing if Kaki King could come in and play guitar on these couple of songs." We also knew this one amazing string player, Rob Moose. He's an amazing arranger in his own right, but he also knew a lot of great players. Everyone we asked said yes. It was just a really cool feeling. I kind of belonged in this community long enough that when we had an idea, people would come forward and help us with it.

JE: To this point, you have presented yourself as an American songwriter. You haven't exploited your Chinese heritage. Why did you decide to touch on that now?

VT: When I was younger, I was very clear in my head that I did not want to be considered an Asian-American songwriter. I didn't feel like the music I wanted to write had anything to do specifically with growing up as a child of Chinese immigrant parents. "Grandmother Song" just kind of came out. I knew that I wanted to sing from my grandmother's point of view.

See Vienna Teng and Alex Wong with Joey Ryan at 8 p.m. Saturday at an Institute of Musical Traditions show at the Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring Performing Arts Center, 7995 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Tickets are $25, $20 in advance. Call 301-754-3611 or visit www.imtfolk.org. Read the full story in A&E, Section C, of Wednesday's Gazette.