Founded in 1950, Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra (SBCO) is one of the oldest and the most refined professional traditional orchestras in Western China. For over 60 years, the group has cultivated a great number of famous traditional Chinese artists. In recent years, the orchestra has incorporated numerous young musicians graduated from the most significant conservatories in China and thereby altered its image completely. Up until now, the orchestra has toured the United States, Japan, and many European countries.

In June 2007, Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra has performed on the occasion of a grand reception for one of the most renowned American delegations, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities during its visit to China. The Head of the Committee stressed her deep impression of Chinese music after attending the concert of SBCO and acclaimed the event as an unforgettable experience of Chinese hospitality and culture.

SBCO has won numerous first prizes in the major national instrumental competitions. The orchestra performs regularly in smaller ensembles, which have been rewarded with several top category prizes. Through extensive education programs, the orchestra has continuously supported young instrumentalists. Due to this strong dedication to the development of Chinese traditional music, the orchestra nowadays possesses of a broad range of fine soloists that inspire audiences from all nations.

Programme:

General’s Order		Arranged by Gu Guanren
Old Locust Trees Seek for Their Roots		Composer: Zhao Jiping
Tune of the Rainbow Cloud		Composer: Zhou Yuguo Guzheng Soloist: Zhang Jie
Female Solo A Glass of Tasty Wine My Brother Tends Sheep		Singer: Li Ya
Suona Solo All Birds Adoring the Phoenix		Arranged by Ren Tongxiang Soloist: Yang Xiaoxian
Collection of Folk Songs from Western China Song of a Coachman In That Distant Place Uncovering the Veil Dance Music of Youth		Composer: Gu Guanren
-- Intermission --
Qin Tune		Composer: Wang Fangliang, Zhang Xiaofeng
The Beautiful Landscape of Jiaocheng		Composer: Zhang Yanwu Dizi Soloist: Zhang Yanwu
Jasmine Flower		Composer: Liu Wenjin
Male Solo Mandarin Duck Couple Playing on the Lake Grand Yellow River		Singer: Du Peng
The Silk Road		Composer: Jiang Ying
Chang’an Fire		Composer : Zhao Jiping, Lu Rirong

Conductor: Lie Zhang

Lie Zhang is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and the director of the China National Orchestra Society. He is also the Vice Secretary-General of the China Conductor Committee and a top level conductor in China.

Currently, Lie Zhang is the permanent conductor of the China Radio, Film and Symphony Orchestra as well as the Radio National Orchestra. His previous positions include: Art Director and Guest Conductor for the Central Conservatory of Music, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Taipei Municipal Orchestra of Chinese Traditional Music, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the permanent conductor of the Guangdong Orchestra.

Lie Zhang graduated from the Xi'an Conservatory of Music in 1984 and continued his study in the Conducting Department of the Chinese Central Conservatory of Music after which he attended master classes in conducting under Professor Baum in Germany.

Lie Zhang has toured in Europe, Asia, and the United States as well as in the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. He has written orchestral and ballet music, movie scores, commissioned by the National Orchestra. He also composed more than a hundred pieces of concertos and vocal arrangements. And for these works, he has received many awards. His percussion concerto Random Thoughts of Guan Mountain has been included in the repertoire of many traditional orchestras from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Mainland China. His major works in recent years include: Symphonic Song of the Wind and Song of Resentment, and music for the movies Dumb Mama and Village of the Sour Jujube. His work for Fantasia Little Balang won the first prize in the national competition and Boat Tracker of Huang River won the golden prize of the national competition.

Lie Zhang has a clear and meticulous style of conducting. He is full of passion and has an ability to grasp the inner soul of the music and reveal it in an innovated way. A British critic once said, "Lie Zhang has a deep understanding of Chinese traditional instruments and has his own ways to explain music. He is the life of the concert; he is capable of balancing the music and influencing the atmosphere. He leads the audience to a world of rich feelings." In recent years, Lie Zhang's works and music have become popular and attracted much attention and praise.

Soloist:

Zhang Yanwu

Zhang Yanwu graduated from the faculty of Traditional Chinese Instruments of Xi'an Conservatory in 1985. For more than twenty years, he devoted himself to the art of Chinese bamboo flute (zhudi) and made remarkable achievements. He has won many awards in important traditional music events nationwide and has been highly acclaimed by Chinese and foreign audience.

Presently, Zhang Yanwu is the Chief Conductor of Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra as well as the Managing Director of the Shaanxi Tourism Group and head of the entertainment company Xi'an Tang Palace Music. In addition, He is also the professor of Chinese bamboo flute (zhudi) in the faulty of Traditional Chinese Instruments and Artistic Director of the Guzheng Orchestra of the Xi'an Conservatory. At the same time, he holds the position of Director and Conductor of the Chinese Orchestra of the Jiaotong University of Xi'an and Associated Conductor of the Chin-Yuan Chinese Orchestra in Taipei.

Zhang Jie

The young and talented guzheng player Zhang Jie graduated from Xi’an Conservatory and is currently the primary guzheng soloist of the Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra.

She is a member of Chinese Association of Guzheng Players, a member of China Nationalities Orchestra Society as well as a member of Shaanxi Musician’s Association and Director of the Shaanxi Association of Guzheng.

She was the first prize winner of the first Qin Qiang Competition in Shaanxi province, and second prize winner of the first edition of Shaanxi Traditional Instruments Competition.

She was invited as the guzheng soloist on the occasion a cultural exchange event between Romania and China during the Shanghai Expo 2010, a performance that was highly spoken by the public.

Yang Xiaoxian

Yang Xiaoxian was admitted for the Secondary School of the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts in 2002. During her study, she won many prices in the competitions for young musicians.

In 2004, she was rewarded of gold medal of the junior category in the De Yi Shuang Xin National Competition, one of the most renowned Chinese contests for youth. In the following year, she again won the National Performance Competition of Young Artists.

In 2008, Yang Xiaoxian entered the Xi'an Conservatory and participated in the Grand Performance of "Chun Hua Qiu Shi" in the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing) in 2010, under the baton of the recognized conductor Maestro Yan Huichang.

Years later, she graduated from Xi'an Conservatory with distinction and joined the Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese orchestra as suona player.

Her recent appearance at the Shaanxi National Instruments Competition in July 2012 was highly appreciated by both audience and music critics.

Singer:

Du Pengpeng

Du Pengpeng currently serves as the primary young singer of the Cultural Arts Center of Yan'an City, Shaanxi province. He has won numerous first prizes at recognized competitions in the province of Shaanxi.

Li Ya

Li Ya is currently a postgraduate at the Faculty of Vocal Arts at the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She is a first prize winner of the Vocal Music Competition sponsored by the Cultural Department of the Shaanxi province. Furthermore, she had won the prize for best Mandarin Repertoire Leading Singer in "the Seventh China Art Festival" held by the Ministry of Culture.