Long Yu To Conduct US Premiere by Zhao Lin with Yo-Yo Ma and Wu Man
By: Julie Musbach Jan. 24, 2019
Long Yu will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct the US Premiere of Zhao Lin's A Happy Excursion, Concerto for Pipa and Cello, with Yo-Yo Ma and Wu Man as soloists; the concerto is a New York Philharmonic co-commission with the Beijing Music Festival and Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra. The program will also include Musorgsky's Prelude to Khovanshchina and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, and will take place on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 8 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, March 9 at 8:00 p.m.
A Happy Excursion gets its name from the essay of the same name on inaction and self-enjoyment by Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu. Wu Man initiated the commissioning of A Happy Excursion from Zhao Lin; Wu Man and Zhao Lin were classmates at the Beijing Conservatory, and she is a founding member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad Ensemble. Yo-Yo Ma says that A Happy Excursion is "taking us on a whirlwind tour of our frenetic, out of control world of today, almost to the point of no return, but we are left with the possibility of redemption."
Yo-Yo Ma and Wu Man appeared as soloists (along with Emanuel Ax and Wu Tong) in the World Premiere of Bright Sheng's The Song and Dance of Tears, commissioned by the Philharmonic, in March 2003. Yo-Yo Ma also appeared with the New York Philharmonic, led by Long Yu, in the US Premiere of Zhao Lin's Duo for Sheng, Cello, and Orchestra (alongside Wu Tong) at the 2015 Lunar New Year Concert.
The New York Philharmonic will offer an allotment of free tickets to young people ages 13-26 for the concert on Friday, March 8 as part of Philharmonic Free Fridays.
Single tickets start at $66. Tickets are sold out; 2018-19 season subscribers can be placed on a purchase-only wait list by calling Customer Relations at (212) 875-5656. (Ticket prices subject to change.) The New York Philharmonic is offering an allotment of free tickets to young people ages 13-26 for the concert Friday, March 8 as part of Philharmonic Free Fridays; learn more at nyphil.org/freefridays.
Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m.
Photo: Chris Lee
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