US-China Music Institute with the Central Conservatory of Music, China
The Orchestra Now Celebrates the Music of Chen Yi and Zhou Long
CHINA NOW MUSIC FESTIVAL: The Bridge of Music
October 6, 2023
US-China Music Institute with the Central Conservatory of Music, China
October 6, 2023
Pre-concert talk with composers at 6 pm
The Orchestra Now
Jindong Cai conductor
The China Now Music Festival returns to the Sosnoff stage for its sixth season with a concert honoring two of the most influential composers from China working in the US today, Zhou Long and Chen Yi. Led by maestro Jindong Cai, The Orchestra Now (TŌN) will perform US premieres of major symphonic works by this legendary couple and their renowned teacher at Columbia University, Chou Wenchung. With the addition of two pieces by their young protégées Zhou Juan and Li Shaosheng, who now have major careers in China, the program links three generations of composers to highlight the generational bridge that Chen Yi and Zhou Long have built between the country of their birth and the one they now call home — a musical bridge between China and the US that is both strong and enduring.
This concert is presented by the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, in collaboration with the Central Conservatory of Music, China, as part of the 6th annual China Now Music Festival: The Bridge of Music. More information about the program and this year’s festival at www.barduschinamusic.org/the-bridge-of-music.
Chou Wenchung (1923-2019)
And the falling petals (US Premiere)
Li Shaosheng (b. 1988)
The Tale of the Southern Tour, for orchestra (US Premiere)
Chen Yi (b. 1953)
My Musical Journey to America, Symphony No. 3 (US Premiere)
Intermission
Zhou Juan (b. 1981)
Half the reason is you, for pipa and orchestra (World Premiere)
Zhou Long (b. 1953)
Beijing Rhyme, suite for orchestra (US Premiere)
The China Now Music Festival is an annual series of events produced by the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. Dedicated to promoting an understanding and appreciation of classical music from contemporary China, each year’s festival explores a singular theme. The inaugural festival in 2018, Facing the Past, Looking to the Future: Chinese Composers in the 21st Century, presented US and world premieres of orchestral works by 11 living Chinese composers in concerts at Bard College, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. The following year, the festival presented China and America: Unity in Music at Bard College, Carnegie Hall, and Stanford University and featured the world premiere of the symphonic oratorio Men of Iron and the Golden Spike, a major new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long honoring the Chinese railroad workers of the American West on the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Recent seasons include Beethoven and China in 2020, Asian American Voices in 2021, and East of West in 2022. In 2023, The Bridge of Music, the festival explores how music acts as a metaphorical bridge connecting people and culture together between China and the US.
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