China’s GuangZhou Symphony Orchestra Premiere American Tour
Maestro Long Yu, music director

US Debut at Carnegie Hall Isaac Stern Auditorium on Friday, September 23, 2005, 8 PM

Boston Debut at Symphony Hall on Monday, September 26, 2005, 8 PM

To purchase your ticket online, please click here

Tickets:

Carnegie Hall Isaac Stern Auditorium: $10, $20, $35, $50
Carnegie Charge: 212-247-7800
Online at www.carnegiehall.org and www.ChinesePerformingArts.net (no fee)
Carnegie Hall Box Office: 57th Street and Seventh Ave, New York

Boston Symphony Hall: $10, $20, $30, $40
Symphony Charge: 888-266-1200, 617-266-1200
World Journal Book Store: 617-451-1309
Online at www.BSO.org and www.ChinesePerformingArts.net (no fee)
Boston Symphony Hall Box Office: 301 Mass Ave, Boston

Children under 6 are not admitted
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Website: www.ChinesePerformingArts.net
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Principal Soloists:

Augustin Duamay, violin
Shuai Ma, Peking Opera Qingyi singer
Huang Ying, soprano
Cui Zhengrong, soprano
Wang Nan, erhu
Ge Yong, pipa
Sun Xin, Zheng

Program:

1. Qigang CHEN: Iris Devoilee (Iris Unveiled), concerted suite for grand orchestra, three female voices and three traditional Chinese instruments (erhu, pipa, and zheng).
Shuai Ma, Peking Opera Qingyi singer

2. Xiao-gang YE: Suite on Cantonese Music

3. HE Zhan-hao HE and Gang CHEN: The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto,
Augustin Duamay, violin

IMG Artists
Amanda Ameer, Publicity Manager
Phone: 212.994.3532 E-mail: aameer@imgartists.com

On Friday, September 23rd, 8 PM, China’s Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO) will make its much-anticipated U.S. debut at Carnegie Hall Isaac Stern Auditorium. Immediately followed will be its Boston Debut on Monday, September 26th, 8 PM, at Boston Symphony Hall. Presented by the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, the concerts will feature renowned French violinist Augustin Dumay, and will highlight three Chinese composers: Xiaogang Ye, Zhanhao He and Qigang Chen. Founded in 1957, GSO was one of the first Chinese orchestras to be created after the establishment of the New China. After decades of artistic growth, GSO is now one of the most prestigious orchestras in the nation.

Maestro Long Yu, the current music director, is a Chinese conductor with an international reputation. He has appeared as guest conductor with leading orchestras and opera companies around the world. Maestro Long Yu also serves as the artistic director of both the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Beijing Music Festival.

The constant pursuit of artistic improvement and a unique artistic identity is well documented throughout the GSO’s rapidly growing history. The orchestra has engaged not only well-known Chinese conductors and soloists, but also those from Germany, Britain, Russia, France, Italy, Holland, Canada, Brazil, Cuba, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Outstanding international collaborations include concerts with violinist Itzhak Perlman, a Europe-Africa Tour in 2003 and an Australian debut performance with celebrated violinist Niki Vasilakis at the Sydney Opera House in July 2004.

The GSO’s American debut performances at Carnegie Hall on September 23rd and at Boston Symphony Hall on September 26th will include the striking nine-piece suite Iris Dévoilée by Qigang Chen. The Yangcheng Evening News wrote of this piece, “With…Iris Dévoilée, Chen wanted to bring an ‘ode to woman’ and does that by stressing a specific trait in each segment. Less pleasant feminine attributes such as ‘jealous’ and ‘hysterical’ are short, but spectacularly presented…for the most part, [the piece] is made up of lovely musical expressions of terms such as ‘chaste’, ‘tender’ and ‘voluptuous.’” Also on the program will be Suite on Cantonese Music, inspired by Cantonese folk music, by Xiaogang Ye and commissioned by Mr. Qikeng Yu, the President of the GSO. Taking melodies from this folk tradition and adapting them into a "suite" whose structure is reminiscent of German composer Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dances", Xiaogang Ye has achieved a delightful synthesis of European form and Chinese content.

The third piece will be The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, composed in 1958 by Zhan-Hao He and Gang Chen while they were students at the Shanghai Conservatory. Like Xiaogang Ye’s Suite on Cantonese Music, this piece is a synthesis of Eastern and Western musical traditions, although the melodies and overall style are adapted from traditional Chinese Opera. The solo violin is used with a technique that recalls the playing technique of erhu, the Chinese two-string fiddle. It is a one-movement programmatic concerto, a Chinese version of the Romeo and Juliet love story, with three sections that correspond to the three phases of the story -- Falling in Love, Refusing to Marry and Metamorphosis.

The GSO will perform at Carnegie Hall on Friday, September 23rd at 8 pm in Isaac Stern Auditorium. Tickets range from $10, $20, $35, and $50 and can be purchased by phone at 212-247-7800, online at www.carnegiehall.org and www.ChinesePerformingArts.net (no fee), or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue.