BARD IN CHINA PRESENTS AN EVENING OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FROM CHINA ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—On Wednesday, April 9, Bard in China will present "New Voices from China: Eight Composers Under 30," performed by Music from China. The event, which is being presented with support from the Freeman Undergraduate Asian Studies Initiative, will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Olin Hall on the Bard College campus. The concert is free and open to the public and will be followed by a panel discussion in which a number of the composers will discuss their works and answer questions from the audience.
The performance—organized by composer and professor Ping Jin of SUNY New Paltz, Bard professor and composer Richard Teitelbaum, and co-director of the Bard Music Festival Robert Martin—is a selection of recent works by graduates of two of China's premier conservatories, the Central Conservatory (Beijing) and the Shanghai Conservatory. These works employ traditional Chinese instruments—huqin, pipa, ruan, zheng, sheng, dizi, yangqin, and percussion—as well as string quartet, piano, computer, and mezzo-soprano.
The young composers are Xie, Peng, piece for nine Chinese instruments; Kang, Wei, piece for two bamboo flutes; Guan, Peng, "Questions" computer music; Shi, Fuhong, piece for mezzo and piano; Hu, Xiao-ou, piece for four Chinese instruments; Wang, Ying, piece for string quartet and sheng; Xi, Wang, "The Snow-Bound River" for five Chinese instruments; and Liu, Chenchen, "Drum Dance" for piano solo.
The works will be performed by Music from China, a New York-based musical ensemble that is widely admired for the delicacy and power of both traditional and contemporary Chinese music. Music from China was founded in 1984 by Susan Cheng, its executive director, and performs for audiences throughout the East Coast and cities across the United States. For this concert, Music from China musicians include Wang Guowei, huqin, percussion; Sun Li, pipa, ruan; Chen Yihan, pipa; Ann Yao, zheng, percussion.; Wang Zhengtin, sheng, percussion.; Zhu-ni Tsou, dizi; Gao Renyang, dizi; Helen Yee, yangqin, percussion; Susan Cheng, percussion; and Frank Cassara, percussion. Other performers include the Cassatt String Quartet; Melvin Chen, piano, conductor; and Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano.
For further information about the concert or Bard in China, call 845-758-7388 or e-mail [email protected].
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(3.12.03)