2019 Season (archive page)
"Politics often divides people, but in art and music, you always find connections. With the China Now Music Festival as our looking glass, we hope to continue bringing people and traditions from China and America together through music.”
–Jindong Cai
the 2019 China Now Music Festival
CHINA AND AMERICA — UNITY IN MUSIC
September 25 to October 6, 2019
Bard College | Carnegie Hall | Stanford University
The 2nd annual China Now Music Festival celebrates milestones in the history of U.S.-China relations through music. Highlights include the world premiere of a symphonic oratorio by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Zhou Long honoring Chinese workers on the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, plus a musical portrait of renowned diplomat Wellington Koo, and the China Now Music Festival Gala at Carnegie Hall.
main eventS
Monday, September 30, 7 pm
Wellington Koo the Diplomat – A Life in Song
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & 7th Avenue, New York, NY
A multimedia concert paints a musical portrait of Koo’s life with images and performances by world-famous musicians including soprano Ying Huang, baritone Shenyang, and Luoyong Wang as narrator, with a world premiere chamber piece by composer Peng-Peng Gong. The China Now Music Festival Gala follows the concert in the Weill Music Room at Carnegie Hall.
Wellington Koo, diplomat
Tickets available at carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or the Carnegie Hall box office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. (tickets on sale soon)
Jindong Cai, The Orchestra Now, and the China Now Festival Chorus. photo by Joe Zhou
Tuesday, October 1, 7:30 pm
From the Middle Kingdom to the Wild West
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & 7th Avenue, New York, NY
The China Now Music Festival fills the big stage at Carnegie Hall for an orchestral performance of two premiere works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long.
Men of Iron and the Golden Spike 铁汉金钉 – a symphonic oratorio is a major new work by Zhou Long and lyricist Su Wei for full symphony orchestra, soloists and a mixed chorus in honor of the Chinese railroad workers of the American West. The work reflects the epic history of nearly 20,000 Chinese laborers who contributed to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 150 years ago. With music by Zhou Long and lyrics by Su Wei. Performed by The Orchestra Now with the China Now Festival Chorus and soloists. WORLD PREMIERE
Classic of Mountains and Seas 山海经 – concerto for orchestra is a new symphonic work inspired by the ancient Chinese classic text “Shan Hai Jing.” U.S. PREMIERE
Bard College’s The Orchestra Now performs, conducted by China Now Music Festival Artistic Director Jindong Cai, with the China Now Music Festival chorus and soloists.
Tickets available at carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or the Carnegie Hall box office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. (tickets on sale soon)
Sunday, October 6, 2:30 pm
From the Middle Kingdom to the Wild West
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University, 327 Lasuen Street, Stanford, CA
Jindong Cai conducts The Orchestra Now in a reprise of the Carnegie Hall October 1st program.
The Orchestra Now with conductor Jindong Cai. Photo by Karl Rabe.
Zhou Long, composer
Su Wei, lyricist
Tickets available at live.stanford.edu, by phone at 650.724.BING (2464), or at the Bing Concert Hall Ticket Office, 327 Lasuen Street, Stanford, CA 94305
other festival EVENTS
Wednesday, September 25, 6:30 pm
MOCATalks: The Making of Men of Iron and the Golden Spike 铁汉金钉
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre Street New York, NY
Composer Zhou Long, librettist Su Wei, and China Now Music Festival artistic director Jindong Cai discuss the conception, creation, and performance of the large-scale symphonic work Men of Iron and the Golden Spike 铁汉金钉 – a symphonic oratorio, commissioned for the China Now Music Festival and making its world premiere on October 1 at Carnegie Hall.
Tickets, $15, available at my.mocanyc.org. Free with museum membership.
Saturday, September 28, 12 pm
The Philadelphia Orchestra performs in Beijing, 1973.
Beethoven in Beijing: china and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center, Bard College
55 Blithewood Avenue, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Documentary film preview and discussion on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s history making tour of China in 1973, marking the beginning of an explosion of interest in Western classical music which continues there to this day. With film-maker Jennifer Lin, Jindong Cai, and representatives of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Light lunch reception following the screening.
Free and open to the public.
Susan Chan, pianist
Sunday, September 29, 7 pm
Echoes of China – Contemporary Piano Music
László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building, Bard College
61 Blithewood Avenue, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Susan Chan performs works for piano by Tan Dun, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long, as well as other composers inspired by Chinese musical traditions.
Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, October 1, 4 pm
Lecture: THE ROLE OF U.S.–EDUCATED STUDENTS IN CHINA’S UNITED STATES POLICY DURING THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD: A CASE STUDY OF WELLINGTON KOO
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
420 W 118th St #9, New York, NY
Guest speaker Jin Guangyao, professor of history and director of the International Center for Studies of Chinese Civilization at Fudan University, sheds light on the role Wellington Koo played in shaping China’s United States policy.
Free and open to the public.
festival related special events
Monday, September 30, 5:30 pm
China Now Music Festival Gala
Weill Terrace Room, 9th Floor, Carnegie Hall
57th Street & 7th Avenue, New York, NY
A Benefit for the US-China Music Institute to celebrate the 2019 China Now Music Festival and this year’s theme, China and America — Unity in Music. Join us for an evening of music, stories, fine dining, and an auction. Held in connection with the concert Wellington Koo the Diplomat — A Life in Song.
China Now Music Festival 2019 featured artist Gang Zhao, MFA ‘00, High Tea, oil on canvas, 2018; courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York.
Saturday, September 28, 8pm
Tan Dun conducts The Martial Arts Trilogy
Tan Dun’s Martial Arts Trilogy
Sosnoff Theater, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Tan Dun, dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, conducts the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra performing live to a film featuring excerpts from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; and The Banquet. With soloists Peter Wiley, cello; Daniel Phillips violin; Blair McMillen, piano; and Benjamin Hochman, piano.
Ticket sales benefit the Conservatory Scholarship Fund
Tickets available at the Fisher Center Box office, 845-758-7900 or fishercenter.bard.edu
Media Sponsor
about the inaugural China Now Music Festival, october 2018
Facing the Past, Looking to the Future:
Chinese Composers in the 21st Century
The inaugural season of the China Now Music Festival in 2018 featured U.S. and world-premiere works by some of the most important Chinese composers of our time, performed by Bard College's The Orchestra Now and conducted by Jindong Cai.
“The performance won thunderous applause. “The music is beautiful and the percussion is impressive,” Suzanne Mark, a New York resident told Xinhua, adding that this kind of Chinese history-themed melody helped her understand more about Chinese culture. - Xinhua News”
Press Notices
People’s Daily - Inaugural China Now Music Festival’s Melodies
Flow in Lincoln CenterSingTao Daily - China Now Music Festival: Musicians
Face the Past and Share Their StoriesSinovision - China Now Music Festival’s Concert at Lincoln Center
Told Stories of China HistoryXinhua News- Inaugural China Now Music Festival
Perfectly Ends with Concert at Carnegie Hall
