THE SOUND OF SPRING - A Chinese New Year Concert with The Orchestra Now

Friday, January 27, 2023
7:00 PM 9:00 PM 19:00 21:00

Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 12504 United States (map)

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Celebrate Chinese New Year in style with The Orchestra Now, conducted by Jindong Cai. Now in its fourth year, The Sound of Spring is an authentic Chinese New Year concert with a program featuring the beloved Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, along with other festive works to welcome in the year of the Rabbit.

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Jindong Cai with The Orchestra Now at Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC. Photo by Chris Lee.

the PROGRAM

Spring Festival Overture 《春节序曲》
Li Huanzhi 李焕之 (1919–2000)

The Indomitable Spirits of the Snow Mountain for Erhu and Orchestra 《雪山魂塑》二胡与乐队
Liu Wenjin 刘文金 (1937-2013)
Beitong Liu, erhu

Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto 《梁山伯與祝英台小提琴协奏曲》
He Zhanhao 何占豪 (b. 1933) and Chen Gang 陈钢 (b. 1935)
Na Sun, violin

Intermission

Prancing Dragons and Jumping Tigers for Percussion and Orchestra 《龙腾虎跃》打击乐与乐队
Li Minxiong 李民雄 (1932–2009)
Petra Elek, percussion

King Chu Doffs His Armor Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra 《霸王卸甲》琵琶与乐队
Zhou Long 周龙 (b. 1953)
Gao Hong, pipa

Riding on the Wind, Op. 27 《御风万里》（作品第27号)
Guo Wenjing 郭文景 (b. 1956)

This concert will also be performed on January 28 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

the artists

Featured

JINDONG CAI, conductor

As the founding director of the US-China Music Institute, conductor Jindong Cai is a leading advocate for Chinese music performance and education around the world. The Sound of Spring annual Chinese New Year concerts represent Cai’s vision for creating authentic Chinese musical experiences in the West. LEARN MORE

PETRA ELEK, percussion

A percussionist with The Orchestra Now and Bard Conservatory graduate, Petra Elek was born in Vásárosdombó, Hungary. Her solo performance of the dramatic percussive piece Prancing Dragons and Jumping Tigers during this year’s The Sound of Spring concert illustrates the US-China Music Institute’s commitment to offering opportunities for non-Chinese musicians to perform contemporary Chinese music. MORE ABOUT PETRA ELEK

GAO HONG, pipa

Every year, The Sound of Spring welcomes professional soloists of traditional Chinese instruments such as the pipa. Gao Hong is an extraordinary pipa player based in St. Louis, Missouri, with a decades-long career presenting and teaching Chinese pipa music both in China and in the United States. She will perform Zhou Long’s striking work for pipa and orchestra, King Chu Doffs His Armor, based on the epic love story of the same name that is also the basis for the celebrated 1993 film Farewell My Concubine. LEARN MORE ABOUT GAO HONG

BEITONG LIU, erhu

Beitong Liu is in her final year of the five double-degree program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where she is majoring in Erhu Performance and Global and International Studies. Beitong is in the first class to graduate from Bard with a degree in Chinese instrument performance. After graduation, Beitong plans to pursue the Master of Arts in Chinese Music and Culture created by the US-China Music Institute at Bard. Through Bard’s partnership with the Central Conservatory of Music, Beitong studies with legendary erhu performer Yu Hongmei. In 2021, she won the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition for her performance of The Indomitable Spirits of the Snow Mountain by Liu Wenjin. Every winner of this annual competition is given the opportunity to perform their chosen piece with The Orchestra Now, as Liu does in this concert.

NA SUN, violin

The Sound of Spring annual Chinese New Year concerts offer New York-based musicians from China opportunities to perform major works of Chinese orchestral music not often heard outside their home country. Violinist Na Sun is a member of the New York Philharmonic and a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music in China. For this year’s The Sound of Spring, she performs the beloved Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto with The Orchestra Now. LEARN MORE ABOUT NA SUN

THE ORCHESTRA NOW (TŌN), Bard's Orchestral Masters

TŌN is a graduate-level training orchestra based at Bard College comprising vibrant young performers from across the globe. The members of TŌN learn critical skills necessary for modern orchestral musicians: creating their own programs, teaching, recording albums, and performing regularly at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, and the Fisher Center at Bard. LEARN MORE

Acknowledgements

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF THIS CONCERT

Bank of China, USA
The Family of Liu Wenjin
Shining Sung
Tao Qian, Director, Central Conservatory of Music Office of International Affairs
Diana Wang
Guo Wenjing
Wei Zhou and Yu Cao, Weiber Consulting