An Evening of Music with the Bard East/West Ensemble
presented by Asia Society in collaboration with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The Bard East/West Ensemble makes its debut in Washington D.C. as part of the "COAL + ICE" documentary photography exhibition and climate-themed arts festival organized by Asia Society and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is currently running through April 22 at The REACH at Kennedy Center. All events are free and open to the public.
The evening will begin with a 30-minute panel discussion called “Musical Connections in Challenging Times,” with guest speakers Orville Schell, Sheila Melvin, and Jindong Cai. A one-hour concert will follow, conducted by Jindong Cai, with instrumental and vocal repertoire from Chinese and American traditional and contemporary music.
Program
Yazhi Guo Photo: Guan Liming
From The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
“Spring”, 1st movement, Allegro
“Summer”, 3rd movement, Presto (“The Storm”)
The Amusing Couple by Bao Yuankai
Silk Road by Jiang Ying
The World of Winds Medley with soloist Yazhi Guo
Chinese and American Songs with soprano Esther Maureen Kelly and baritone José Rubio
José Rubio and Esther Maureen Kelly
Photo: Guan Liming
“Ocean, My Hometown” by Wang Liping
“Oh Shenandoah” (traditional)
From The White Haired Girl by Ma Ke
“Wind from the North”
“Red Ribbon”
From Candide by Leonard Bernstein
“Make our Garden Grow”
Arrangements by Xinyan Li, Chengjin Gao, Zhihua Hu
Program subject to change.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to the event. You are free to view the exhibition upon entry.
Pre-registration is required for entry. Masks are required to attend all pre-registration events.
The Bard East/West Ensemble
Jindong Cai, artistic director
Yifan Lin, dizi; JinOu Dong, pipa; Sibei Betty Wang, guzheng; Yijie Yin, ruan/liuqin; Yining Zhu, percussion; Michael Knox, bass; Yi-ting Joy Kuo, violin; Beitong Liu, erhu; Nalin Myoung, violin; Pecos Singer, cello; Emmanuel Koh En Yu, viola.
The Bard East/West Ensemble, as the name suggests, aims to combine the instrumentation and musical traditions of the East and the West, to bring together Chinese music and Western music, and to seek a new model of cross-cultural music cooperation. Under the direction of Jindong Cai, the ensemble is comprised of young musicians from the Bard Conservatory of Music and invites accomplished artists to collaborate as guest soloists. The Bard East/West Ensemble will dedicate itself to playing works with unique instrumental creations and arrangements by its resident composers Xinyan Li, Gao Chengjin, and Zhihua Hu, thus creating a new way of musical expression.