EAST WEST: A SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION to be Presented at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall

On July 20 at 7:30 PM at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Maestra Xian Zhang will lead the New Jersey Symphony (NJS) in "East/West: A Symphonic Celebration" featuring soloists: Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition-winning violinist Nancy Zhou, Chopin Competition prize-winner Chelsea Guo (piano), Esther Maureen Kelly (soprano), and Yongzhao Yu (tenor). The program features celebrated and groundbreaking works by acclaimed Chinese composers Qigang Chen, Jiping Zhao, Shiguang Wang, Sida Guo, and Qu Zhang alongside traditional Western composers Copland and Verdi.

World-renowned soloists Chelsea Guo and Nancy Zhou take center stage for two contemporary concerti: Qigang Chen's Er Huang piano concerto and Jiping Zhao's Violin Concerto, respectively. Both works incorporate traditional Chinese sounds scored for Western symphony orchestra and Western solo instruments, resulting in modern East-meets-West sonic experiences.

Opening the concert is Sida Guo and Zhang Qu's Image China Suite - which features traditional Chinese instruments (guzheng, pipa, flute, and xiao) alongside the symphony orchestra - and originates from Chinese folk-dance dramas, "Soaring Wings" and "Confucius." The Image China Suite aims to arouse the memory of the Chinese dance drama hit on the stage of Lincoln Center.

Copland's Appalachian Spring, also originally scored for dance, provides a Western counterpart for Image China Suite. Rounding out the concert is Wang Shiguang's well-loved The Song of Yangtze River, performed by American soprano Esther Maureen Kelly and Chinese tenor Yongzhao Yu with the NJS.

This concert is produced by China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. (CAEG), Ltd. and is part of CAEG's Image China cultural exchange initiative, which seeks to introduce traditional and contemporary Chinese performing arts to audiences around the world. Since its inception in 2009, Image China has presented a series of works at venues across the globe, including Lincoln Center in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and performance venues in Australia, New Zealand and throughout Europe. CAEG's presentation of Chinese dance dramas at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, have included The Peony Pavilion, Silk Road, The Red Dress, The Legend of Mulan, Dragon Boat Racing, Confucius, Soaring Wings, Princess Zhaojun, and more.

Tickets ($21.50-$116.50) for this performance are available at Lincoln Center's website. Please visit Alice Tully Hall's website for up-to-date health and safety requirements.

About the New Jersey Symphony (NJS)
Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the New Jersey Symphony is redefining what it means to be a nationally leading, relevant orchestra in the 21st century. Through adventurous performances, hands-on educational experiences and robust community programming, the ensemble encourages everyone to enjoy the power and creativity of orchestral music in all its forms. For more information, please visit njsymphony.org.

About Maestra Xian Zhang

NJS Music Director Xian Zhang will remain at the helm of the New Jersey Symphony through its 100th anniversary in 2022 and beyond. She has extended her contract as music director through the 2027-28 season. She is principal guest conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and conductor emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. With the New Jersey Symphony, Zhang has commissioned works from composers such as Thomas Adès, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Qigang Chen, Christopher Rouse, Vivian Li, Gary Morgan, Christian McBride, and Paquito D'Rivera. She is also responsible for introducing an annual Lunar New Year Celebration concert to the orchestra. For more information, please visit here.

About Nancy Zhou

Lauded as one of today's probing musical voices infused with searing virtuosity, Nancy Zhou is rapidly building an international profile after winning the 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition. With a robust online presence that seeks to invigorate appreciation for the art and science of the violin, her thoughtful musicianship resonates with a global audience in such a way that brings her on stage with leading orchestras around the world. Zhou plays on a Joseph Guarneri violin from 1730-33 known as the "Le Sphynx," on generous loan to her from a private sponsor. For more information, please visit nancyzhouviolin.com.

About Chelsea Guo

Internationally acclaimed pianist and soprano Chelsea Guo's dual artistry is featured in her 2021 debut recording on the Orchid Classics label, "Chelsea Guo: Chopin in My Voice." Gramophone Magazine included the recording in their "Essential New Albums," Classical FM featured Guo for an entire week as a "Young Classical Star," and BBC Music Magazine wrote: "Here is a rare talent." Chelsea's solo piano performances have taken her to Carnegie Hall and London's Wigmore Hall, as well as prominent venues throughout the United States, England, Austria, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, and Canada. For more information, please visit chelseaguopiano.com.

About Esther Maureen Kelly
While working with Young Artist Programs over the past few years - including Opera Saratoga, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the iSING! International Festival in China - Esther Maureen Kelly has performed an assortment of western opera and Chinese art songs in collaboration with some of the brilliant minds of the modern opera world. This past season, Esther Maureen Kelly performed in Opera Fayetteville's production of Glory Denied as Younger Alyce, as well as spending several months traveling around China premiering new musical settings of Tang Dynasty poetry with the iSING! International Festival. For more information, please visit esthermkelly.com.

About Yongzhao Yu

Yongzhao Yu, who won the Audience Choice Award and the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award in HGO's 2015 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias, continues to make important debuts throughout the United States. In the current season, he sings the poet Rodolfo in La bohème for Arizona Opera, a role he has sung for Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and covers for The Metropolitan Opera in the current season. For more information, please visit here.

About China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. (CAEG)

Founded in April 2004, CAEG has developed a nationwide market network of international performing arts, art exhibitions, and culture & tourism and theater operations, and set up branches in major cities in China and some European countries, in addition to the United States. CAEG has been elected one of the Top 30 China Cultural Enterprises for eight consecutive years since 2009 and stages over 5,000 different kinds of performances, exhibitions, and other cultural activities at home and abroad every year. For more information, please visit en.caeg.cn.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.