The annual spring concert of the Bard Chinese Ensemble will be a special occasion in 2023, celebrating 5 years of the US-China Music Institute and the graduation of the first class of Chinese instrument majors in the Bard Conservatory.
Bard Chinese Ensemble concerts are always lively, exciting, and musically ambitious events, and this year will be no exception. The concert program will feature a number of chamber works for mixed Chinese and Western instruments, plus a new selection of traditional pieces especially arranged by Ensemble Director Chen Tao.
The concert will be held in Olin Hall this year to give more people on campus and in the surrounding community an opportunity to see the extraordinary accomplishments of these young musicians. A celebratory reception in the lobby for all attendees and performers will follow the concert.
Admission is free. Don’t miss this very special event!
WATCH LIVE ON YOUTUBE
PROGRAM
Chamber Music
Wang Baocan
OX FIGHTING TIGER 牛斗虎
Yining Zhu and Yixin Wang, Chinese drum
Liu Tianhua
BIRDS CHIRPING IN THE EMPTY MOUNTAIN 空山鸟语
arr. by Cui Quan
Chen Wang, erhu
Zhe Wang, guqin
Yuling Nan, daruan
Sibei Wang, guzheng
Wenjun Lu, pipa
Zhu Lin
CANG CAI 仓才 “Gong and Drum Scriptures”
Xi Lu, pipa
Xiaoyan Luo, pipa
Danni Chen, pipa
Wenjun Lu, pipa
Sun Zhixuan
YIYUN OF INK WASH PAINTING AND TRACE 水墨意韵
Wenrui Shi, guqin
Yifan Lin, dizi
Yijie Yin, zhongruan
Chen Wang, erhu
Yining Zhu, percussion
Shutong Li, conductor
Taiwanese Folk Song
LOST IN LOVE 阮不知啦
arr. by Zhou Chenglong
re-arr. by Yixin Wang
Yixin Wang, guzheng
Sibei Wang, guzheng
Wenjun Lu, pipa
Yuling Nan, zhongruan
Chung Yiu-Kwong
HEARING THE SPRING
Eric Zheng, soprano saxophone
Beitong Liu, erhu
Yixin Wang, guzheng
Yijie Yin, zhongruan
Francis Huang, vibraphone
Shutong Li, conductor
INTERMISSION
Chinese Ensemble
Chen Tao
SAKYAMUNI 释迦颂
Wu Junshen
NIGHT OF THE TORCH FESTIVAL 火把节之夜
arr. by Chen, Tao
Yijie Yin, zhongruan
Mai Ding
GUESTS FROM AFAR, PLEASE STAY! 远方的客人请你留下来
arr. Zhou Chenglong
re-arr. Chen Tao
Traditional
HIGH ABOVE THE MOON 月儿高
arr. Peng Xiuwen
re-arr. Chen Tao)
Bard Chinese ensemble
Chen Tao, music director and conductor
Shutong Li, assistant conductor and chamber music coordinator
AND
Eliza Karpiak, flute
Maya Yokanovich, clarinet
Chung-Yang (Francis) Huang, piano
Santiago Mieres Rausseo, violin
Junyu Lin, violin
Elizabeth Chernyak, violin
Zander Grier, cello
Njya Lubang, bass
ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
The Bard Chinese Ensemble is mainly composed of the Conservatory’s Chinese instrument majors, along with various students of Western instruments joining each semester, depending on the repertoire. With increased enrollment in Chinese instrument majors each year since 2018, this year the Ensemble is composed of over 20 musicians.
Conductor and arranger Chen Tao is a dizi (bamboo flute) master and the artistic director of Melody of Dragon, an educational and performing arts organization in New York City focusing on traditional Chinese music. Chen Tao studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and has been teaching and performing in the New York area for nearly 30 years.