October 2–8 2023
BARD COLLEGE
Asia society
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER
“Music is both the common wealth of human civilization and the unique creation of individual cultures and peoples. It is a bringer of hope and joy, and a bridge to understanding. I hope that this year's China Now Music Festival will bring you this hope, joy, and understanding.”
音乐既是人类文明的共同财富，也是各个文化和民族的独特创造。它是希望与欢愉的使者，也是理解的桥梁。我希望今年的纽约中国当代音乐节能给您带来这份希望、欢愉和理解。
— Jindong Cai, artistic director
EVENTS
MORE ABOUT CHINA NOW 2023
“The Bridge of Music”
In the ever-evolving landscape of world politics, classical music bridges the gap between the East and the West, playing a critical role in fostering cultural exchange and promoting fellowship and understanding among artists and audience members alike. Serving as a metaphorical bridge, the 2023 China Now Music Festival brought together composers, performers, and scholars from China and the West for a series of events designed to offer a rich and unique artistic landscape, characterized by the blending of traditional Chinese elements with contemporary Western composition techniques. The festival offered audiences a chance to experience the convergence of different cultures, while providing a space for collaborative exploration and cross-cultural understanding. Through commissioning and premiering new works and innovative arrangements, the festival continues to nurtures the growth of contemporary Chinese composers, giving them a unique New York-based platform to promote new work outside of China.
This year, we paid special attention to the bridge that music builds between us.
The China Now Music Festival is an annual series of events produced by the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music in collaboration with the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music, China. China Now is dedicated to promoting an understanding and appreciation of classical music from contemporary China. Each year’s festival explores a singular theme. The inaugural festival in 2018, Facing the Past, Looking to the Future: Chinese Composers in the 21st Century, presented US and world premieres of orchestral works by 11 living Chinese composers in concerts at Bard College, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. The following year, the festival presented China and America: Unity in Music at Bard College, Carnegie Hall, and Stanford University, and featured the world premiere of the symphonic oratorio Men of Iron and the Golden Spike, a major new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long honoring the Chinese railroad workers of the American West on the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Recent seasons include Beethoven and China in 2020, Asian American Voices in 2021, and East of West in 2022.
The 2023 China Now Music Festival is presented in collaboration with the Central Conservatory of Music, China. Thank you to all our partners for supporting this year’s events.
