Old and new friends are to come together at May Festival

NCPA April/19/2017
With “All about Beethoven” as its theme, NCPA May Festival 2017 will start on May 6th, 2017, and last until May 27th. During the festival, six concerts of Beethoven’s works will be staged, displaying a music portrait of this music giant. On April 19th, WANG Luli, Deputy Director of the Performance Department of NCPA, LÜ Siqing, Artistic Director of NCPA May Festival 2017, organist SHEN Fanxiu, and percussionist LI Biao attended the press conference.

WANG Luli, LÜ Siqing, SHEN Fanxiu and LI Biao attended the press conference
Photo by WANG Xiaojing

The year 2017 marks the 10th year of China NCPA's inauguration and the ninth year of May Festival's birth. In 2009, NCPA launched the first May Festival, presenting 11 wonderful chamber concerts to the audience. Up to now, this Festival has presented over 130 performances, bringing together more domestic and overseas renowned orchestras and musicians and introducing chamber music into people's life. From artists, audience, to various social institutions, more and more people and organizations have joined this “big family” and enjoyed the “reunion” in May each year. Violinist LÜ Siqing, the Artistic Director of NCPA May Festival, believed that, “Chamber music is a very flexible and interesting form of performance. Featured with delicacy and flexibility, chamber music can express much more delicate feelings.”

This year also marks the 190th anniversary of the German composer Beethoven’s death. In commemoration of this music giant, NCPA May Festival has established “All about Beethoven” as its theme. During the Festival, pianist and conductor Lars Vogt, together with the Britain Royal Northern Sinfonia, will perform Beethoven’s five complete piano concertos in two of the 17 concerts. Trondheim Soloists will choose Beethoven’s String Quartet No.11 “Serioso” and adapt it into a string orchestra version, which amplifies this classic in a new way. Borodin String Quartet, with a history of over 70 years, has recorded Beethoven’s string quartet works for many times during different periods. This time, the four musicians will play Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 6 for the audience, demonstrating Beethoven’s creative style in his youth. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France will give a featured performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56, with the trio of violin, cello and piano serving as the solo jointly at the closing concert. During the Festival this year, violinist LÜ Siqing, organist SHEN Fanxiu, percussionist LI Biao, China Trio (LÜ Siqing, QIN Liwei, SUN Yingdi), the Shanghai Quartet, and other Chinese musicians and chamber music troupes will also stage their performances.

LÜ Siqing, Artistic Director of NCPA May Festival, performed at the press conference
Photo by WANG Xiaojing

In addition, during the May Festival, chamber music will also demonstrate its charm outside NCPA. Since 2012, NCPA has planned many public performances in May each year. Many domestic and overseas musicians participating in May Festival have steped off the stage and made appearances at remote districts in Beijing, community hospitals, charities, school museums, and public transport hubs. From April 27th to May 26th this year, domestic and overseas artists and troupes including LÜ Siqing, SHEN Fanxiu, China Trio, Dragon Quartet, CHU Yi-Bing Cello Ensemble, China NCPA Orchestra, China NCPA Chorus, NCPA Resident Artists, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Trondheim Solistene, Herring Jazz Band and many others will stage altogether 19 performances outside NCPA, presenting chamber music in such places as the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, schools, enterprise and public institutions.
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