Four concerts will be staged this weekend at the Shenzhen Concert Hall, respectively bringing the works of talented young composers, the best of movie scores, Chinese artistic songs and the sonatas of Scriabin.
The future of Chinese music
Conducted by Liu Ming, one of the most successful Chinese conductors of his generation, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) will stage a concert this Friday night, presenting the works of graduate students of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SCM). Ruan (Chinese moon guitar) player Zhuang Yan, clarinetist Zhang Yucheng and bamboo flutist Chen Hongxuan will be soloists in the show.
The program consists of the works from nine award-winning young composers, who are adept at integrating traditional Chinese elements into modern Western music styles.
Zheng Guangzhi, a doctoral student studying with composer Wang Jianzhong at SCM, has composed “Pasibutbut,” also known as “Song for Abundant Harvest of Millet.” Based on the ceremonial music performed during sacrifices by Bunun tribes in Taiwan, the work has a rich and colorful orchestration and unique ethnic flavors.
Li Chenxi’s work depicts the splendid landscapes of the deserts along the ancient Silk Road in Northwest China, while Lin Sen uses the symphonic form to interpret a piece by Song Dynasty poet Chao Buzhi. With “Oriental Gate,” Luo Cheng captures the cultural essence and transformation of Suzhou, a city in East China’s Jiangsu Province also known as the “Oriental Venice.”
Liu, a professor with the Xinghai Conservatory of Music and principal conductor with SZSO, graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) with a master’s degree in orchestral conducting. He also has a second master’s degree in piano performance from the Moores School of Music, University of Houston.
He studied with Gerhard Samuel and Christopher Zimmermann at CCM, where he was awarded a full scholarship and teaching assistantship. At the Moores School of Music, he studied piano with Betty Ruth Tomfohrde and Abbey Simon, and conducting with Franz Anton Krager.
He has conducted numerous orchestras including the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and the Paris Opera Ballet.
Time: 8 p.m., Nov. 12
Tickets: 50-880 yuan
The best of movie scores
Featuring teachers from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Saturday’s concert will take the audience on a tour of the best of movie scores, inviting them to relive the enthralling moments from several classic films.
Fans will listen to “Enduring Movement,” performed by the protagonist during a piano duel from “The Legend of 1900,” suites from “The Godfather,” the soul-touching violin solo from “Schindler’s List,” the joyful melodies from “The Sound of Music,” and Chopin’s “Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53” and “Fantasy Impromptu in C Sharp Minor, Op. 66” that were repeatedly played during the composer’s biopic film “A Song to Remember.”
The three performers are pianist Tan Xiaotang, first prize-winner at the Second Sendai International Music Competition in Japan, violinist Liu Xiao, champion of the French MIDO International Violin Competition, and Zhu Mu, who graduated with a doctor’s degree in concert performance from Carl Maria von Weber University of Music Dresden in Germany.
Time: 8 p.m., Nov. 13
Tickets: 120-580 yuan
He Hui’s vocal concert
Renowned Chinese soprano He Hui will present a night of Chinese artistic songs accompanied by pianist Cao Peng and Shenzhen Concert Hall’s Chanson de Montagne Multiethnic Children’s Choir.
Trained in China and Italy, He is one of the most sought-after sopranos today. In 2000, she won second prize at the Operalia Competition in Los Angeles, the United States; in 2002 she won first prize at the Verdian Voices Competition in Busseto, Italy. Since her breakout performance in 2002, He has sung at most of the world’s leading theaters, including the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera and the Scala Theater in Milan.
Cao, champion of the Seventh Khachaturian International Piano Competition, has performed with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Armenian National Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Time: 8 p.m., Nov. 14
Tickets: 80-580 yuan
A night of Scriabin sonatas
Also on Sunday night, pianist Chen Yunjie, an associate professor of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, will perform poetic Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s works at the Chamber Hall on the fifth floor of the venue. One of the best young pianists of China today, Chen graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has won prizes at many competitions such as the Santander International Piano Competition in Spain and the Long-Thibaud-Crespin competition in France.
He is the first and only Chinese pianist to perform the complete 10 piano sonatas of Scriabin. He performed the complete Scriabin sonatas in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing on April 27, 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death.
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 14
Tickets: 98-298 yuan
Booking: WeChat account “szyyt_piao”
Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, Futian District (福田区深圳音乐厅)
Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D