Tour Dates: 1 Feb - 12 Feb, 2011

Celebrating the Chinese New Year Festival, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra take the audience on a vivid musical journey of their homeland.

The Grand Chinese New Year Concert - Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, 2011
The Grand Chinese New Year Concert is an exotic musical adventure to delight the senses.  In traditional costumes and with classical Chinese instruments, artists from China’s top orchestras present a selection of traditional music.  Celebrating the Chinese New Year Festival, the artists take the audience on a vivid musical journey of their homeland.

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
The Orchestra was founded in 1977 and is the only professional, full-sized Chinese orchestra with 85 musicians in Hong Kong. It came under the management of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Limited on 1st April, 2001 when the latter took over from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong.

The Orchestra is deeply rooted in the Chinese cultural heritage.  Its performance format and repertoire include both traditional Chinese music and contemporary full-scale works.  It also explores new frontiers in music through commissioning new works of various types and styles, and over the years, has commissioned over 1,900 original compositions and arrangements, many of them have won awards at home and abroad. The Orchestra currently has an establishment of 85 musicians who perform in the four sections comprising bowed-strings, plucked-strings, wind and percussion instruments.  Traditional as well as improved Chinese instruments are incorporated.

The Music
The program of the Grand Chinese New Year Concert consists of traditional Chinese music as well as contemporary arrangements, composed especially for orchestra performances with traditional Chinese instruments.  Besides orchestral music, audiences are introduced to Chinese instruments through pieces, which highlight their unique sound.  Leading soloists are accompanies by orchestras, allowing the audience a deeper appreciation of the distinctive character of China’s classical tradition.  Ranging from smaller ensemble pieces with Erhu, Pipa, Yangqin and Ruan to impressive percussion acts, the Grand Chinese New Year Concert presents the whole of Chinese classical music.

The Orchestra
From the top orchestras in China, Wu Promotion together with a committee of experts annually selects one group to feature in the orchestra tour.  By changing the orchestra every year, audiences of the Grand Chinese New Year Concert are able to experience the vast musical diversity and various ethnical styles China has to offer.  The changing local orchestras and their different musical styles express the diverse geography, the daily challenges and the various manners of dealing with joy and grief.  In a country, which can be compared to Europe regarding its scenic and cultural differences, the musical variety is vast and seems unlimited.

Programme:

Rejoice in Peace (Chen Yonghua)

Zheng (Chinese zither) concert “A Peacock Flying to the Southeast” (He Zhanhao)

Solo: Luo Jing

A Va Mountain
 (Three Melodies of West Yunnan, First Movement [Op. 19, 1993]) (Guo Wenjing)

~~~Intermission~~~

The Silk Road Fantasia Suite (Zhao Jiping)

Solo: Guo Yazhi

• The Song of Baliu
• The Lilt of the Ancient Roads
• The Music of Liangzhou
• The Dream of Loulan
• The dance of Qiuci

The Yellow River Capriccio (Cheng Dazhao)

Tour:

1st February, 2011       KulturHuset                                Tromsø, Norway
4th February, 2011       KKL Konzertsaal                         Lucerne, Switzerland
7th February, 2011       Gut Varrel (Stuhr)                   Bremen, Germany
9th February, 2011       Rudolfinum Suk hall                     Prague, Czech Repubilc
11th February, 2011     Komische Oper                            Berlin, Germany
14th February, 2011     Cairo Opera House                     Cairo, Egypt
16th February, 2011     Alexandria Opera House           Alexandria, Egypt 

For detailed information about the concert tour, please visit www.chinamusic.cn

For booking inquiry please contact:
Ms. Sherry Zhang,
Chinese Artists Assistant
Tel.: +86 10 5165 0798 ext. 28
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